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Bangladeshi Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus vowed Sunday to overcome scores of court cases that his supporters say are politically motivated to achieve his environmental and economic policies. “Our dream is to create a new world,” 83-year-old Yunus told reporters outside court, after he was formally granted bail in his appeal against a six-month prison sentence in a case widely criticised by human rights groups. Yunus is credited with lifting millions out of poverty with his […]
SYDNEY, Jan 26, 2024 (AFP) A powerful category three cyclone crashed into northeastern Australia late on Thursday, leaving tens of thousands of homes without power. Severe Tropical Cyclone Kirrily packed winds of more than 160 kilometres (100 miles) per hour as it hit Townsville, home to 180,000 people, before rapidly weakening. Emergency services said that despite high winds, the storm caused no fatalities and minimal damage. But about 64,000 homes were said to be without […]
By Didier LAURAS and Mark Anderson JERUSALEM, Jan 26, 2024 (AFP) – The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Friday it had sacked several employees accused by Israel of involvement in Hamas’s October 7 attack, prompting the United States to suspend critical funding. The head of the agency, Philippe Lazzarini, vowed to hold “accountable, including through criminal prosecution” any UNRWA employee found to have taken part in acts of terror. In response to the firings, […]
By Gregory WALTON NEW YORK, Jan 26, 2024 (AFP) – A jury in New York ordered former US president and 2024 candidate Donald Trump on Friday to pay $83.3 million to compensate the writer E. Jean Carroll whom he was found to have sexually assaulted and defamed. The civil order, which prompted an audible gasp in the federal court, far exceeds the more than $10 million in damages for defamation that Carroll had sought. Trump […]
By Richard CARTER THE HAGUE, Jan 26, 2024 (AFP) – The head of the top United Nations court on Friday began reading the initial decision in the case against Israel over alleged genocide in Gaza, a landmark case that has sparked global interest. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) could in theory order Israel to stop its military campaign in Gaza, sparked by the October 7 attacks by Hamas, or to facilitate humanitarian aid. The […]
BANGKOK, Jan 26, 2024 (AFP) – China’s top diplomat Wang Yi will discuss Taiwan with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan during talks in Thailand this week, Beijing said Friday, as the two powers seek to improve relations after years of tensions. Beijing and Washington have clashed in recent years on flashpoint issues from technology and trade to human rights, as well as over the self-ruled island and competing claims in the South China Sea. […]
By Issam AHMED WASHINGTON, Jan 26, 2024 (AFP) – NASA’s Ingenuity Mars helicopter, which made history by achieving the first powered flight on another world, has officially ended its nearly three-year mission after sustaining rotor damage during its last outing, the space agency said Thursday. The tissue-box sized aircraft, which hitched a ride to the Red Planet under the belly of the Perseverance rover, first lifted off the surface on April 19, 2021. Originally intended […]
WASHINGTON, Jan 26, 2024 (AFP) – The southern US state of Alabama on Thursday put to death a convicted murderer using nitrogen gas, the first time the country has used a method that the UN rights chief said may amount to torture. Kenneth Eugene Smith was pronounced dead at 8:25 pm (0225 GMT Friday), according to the state attorney general. “Justice has been served. Tonight, Kenneth Smith was put to death for the heinous act […]
BEIJING, Jan 26, 2024 (AFP) – China said Friday it had sentenced a British national in 2022 to five years in jail for spying, in its official confirmation of a case that had gone unreported until this week. The Wall Street Journal first broke news of the case of UK businessman Ian Stones on Thursday, reporting, citing his family and other sources, that he had disappeared in 2018 after decades of work in China. Asked […]
BERLIN, Jan 26, 2024 (AFP) – European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen warned on Friday that global disruptions and volatility are the “new normal”, with more geo-economic tensions on the horizon. “2024 will be a decisive year, with more geo-economic tensions expected — from the Red Sea to the Taiwan Strait — which also means more frequent disruptions to supply chains and greater volatility on the energy markets,” she told a climate conference in […]
By Alejandro Rincon BOGOTÁ, Jan 26, 2024 (AFP) – Colombia appealed on Thursday for international aid as it battled dozens of forest fires burning vast swathes of the country and encroaching on homes in the capital. For four consecutive days, hundreds of firefighters and volunteers have fought the inferno tearing through the forested mountains above Bogota, some armed with little more than water bottles and face masks. The fires have blanketed the capital in smoke, […]
