KYIV, Ukraine, Jan 25, 2024 (AFP) – Ukraine’s SBU security service on Thursday opened a criminal probe into the downing of a Russian military plane that Moscow said killed 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war. Kyiv has not said whether captured Ukrainian soldiers were killed — or if it was involved — in Wednesday’s shooting down of a military transport plane over Russia’s western Belgorod region, close to the border with Ukraine. “The security service of […]
International
URGENT: Seoul lawmaker ‘attacked’ in street : Yonhap news agency
SEOUL, Jan 25, 2024 (AFP) – A South Korean ruling party lawmaker was “attacked” on a street in Seoul’s upscale Gangnam district on Thursday by an unidentified assailant, Yonhap news agency reported. Bae Hyun-jin, 40, was struck with an “object believed to be a blunt instrument” and was taken to hospital, the report said, adding her condition was “not life threatening”. The attack comes just about a month after the country’s opposition party leader Lee […]
Colombia declares emergency over raging forest fires
BOGOTÁ, Jan 25, 2024 (AFP) – Colombia has declared a state of emergency in two regions as dozens of forest fires burned wide swathes of the country and left the capital choking on smoke during record temperatures linked with the El Nino weather phenomenon. Colombia has already extinguished hundreds of fires this month, but 25 continue to burn, according to data from the National Disaster Risk Management Unit (UNGRD) on Wednesday. In the departments of […]
Japan craft made successful pin-point Moon landing, space agency says
By Kyoko HASEGAWA TOKYO, Jan 25, 2024 (AFP) – Japan’s “Moon Sniper” craft made a pin-point lunar landing despite last-minute engine problems, the space agency said Thursday as it released the first images from the mission. A photo taken by a mini-rover showed the boxy yellow lander sitting intact at a slight angle on the rocky grey surface, lunar slopes rising in the distance. Saturday’s touchdown made Japan only the fifth nation to achieve a […]
Japanese man sentenced to death in anime arson trial
By Hiroshi HIYAMA KYOTO, Japan, Jan 25, 2024 (AFP) – A Japanese court on Thursday sentenced to death the perpetrator of a 2019 arson attack on an animation studio that killed 36 people, local media reported. The blaze that ripped through the studios of Kyoto Animation four-and-a-half years ago was Japan’s deadliest crime in decades, stunning the anime industry and its fans around the world. Shinji Aoba, now 45, broke into the building, spread […]
Yemen’s Huthis fire missiles at ships in Red Sea
By Jamal al-Jabiri SANAA, Jan 24, 2024 (AFP) – Yemen’s Huthis fired three missiles at two merchant ships in the Red Sea on Wednesday in their latest attack in the commercially vital waterway, the White House and the Iran-backed rebels said. It came after the Huthis vowed to keep up their attacks despite repeated US and British strikes against them. One missile missed its target and a US Navy destroyer shot down the other two, […]
Qatar ‘appalled’ at alleged criticism by Netanyahu
DOHA, Jan 25, 2024 (AFP) – Qatar said Wednesday it was “appalled” by remarks attributed to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was allegedly caught on tape calling the emirate’s role as mediator in the Gaza war “problematic”. At a meeting this week with the families of hostages held in Gaza, Netanyahu blamed Qatar for financing Hamas and said he was upset at a US decision to extend the presence of a military base in […]
Biden wobbles under weight of multiple open fronts around the world
By Léon BRUNEAU WASHINGTON, Jan 25, 2024 (AFP) – Long gone is the Joe Biden of February 2023, strolling confidently through the streets of Kyiv, basking in the role as champion of the Ukrainian cause in the fight against Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Nearly one year after that triumphant appearance, the US president is instead facing the harsh realities of running for re-election while bogged down in one stagnant war and navigating the volatility of another, […]
N. Korea’s Kim seeks to level up ‘huge’ gaps in living standards
SEOUL, Jan 25, 2024 (AFP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for “leveling up” the living standards of rural areas, saying a failure to provide necessities, including food, was a “serious political issue”, state media said Thursday. Nuclear-armed North Korea has a fragile economy and its government has long been criticised for prioritising the military and its banned weapons programmes over adequately providing for its people. The North has periodically been hit by […]
Death sentence expected in Japan anime arson trial
By Hiroshi HIYAMA KYOTO, Japan, Jan 25, 2024 (AFP) – A Japanese court found guilty on Thursday the perpetrator of a 2019 arson attack on an animation studio that killed 36 people, with a death sentence widely expected later in the day, local media reported. The arson attack four-and-a-half years ago at the studios of Kyoto Animation was Japan’s deadliest crime in decades, stunning the anime industry and its fans around the world. Shinji Aoba, […]
‘Doomsday Clock’ remains at 90 seconds to midnight
By Issam AHMED The symbolic “Doomsday Clock” was held at 90 seconds to midnight Tuesday, reflecting existential threats to humanity posed by potential nuclear escalation from the war in Ukraine and the multiplying impacts of the climate crisis following Earth’s hottest recorded year. Set by top scientists and security experts, the timing of the clock remains the same as last year and the closest it has ever been to midnight in its more than 75-year-history. […]
Orban reaffirms ‘support’ of Sweden’s NATO bid in Stoltenberg call
BUDAPEST, Jan 24, 2024 (AFP) – Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Wednesday said he reaffirmed in a phone call with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg his “support” for Sweden’s membership to the security alliance. Budapest remains the last holdout to ratify Stockholm’s bid to join NATO. “I reaffirmed that the Hungarian government supports the NATO membership of Sweden,” Orban wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “I also stressed that we will continue to urge the Hungarian […]





