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UNITED NATIONS, United States, Jan 24, 2024 (AFP) – The island nation of Palau made history this week when it became the first country to ratify last year’s historic United Nations treaty for the protection of the Earth’s oceans. The so-called High Seas Treaty was adopted by UN member states in June, after more than 15 years of discussions. It can go into effect 120 days after being ratified by 60 countries — a goal […]
SYDNEY, Jan 23, 2024 (AFP) – Taiwanese diplomats on Tuesday said they were confident of retaining “a strong bond” with key partner Tuvalu as speculation mounted that the Pacific micronation could soon switch its allegiance to Beijing. The dwindling list of countries that officially recognize Taiwan shrunk earlier this month when Nauru abruptly severed diplomatic ties in favor of Beijing. With Tuvalu heading to the polls on Friday, some Pacific watchers have questioned whether Beijing […]
WASHINGTON, Jan 23, 2024 (AFP) – Israel has proposed to Hamas via Qatari and Egyptian mediators a pause in fighting of up to two months as part of a deal to free all the hostages being held in Gaza, the US news site Axios reported Monday. The report, citing unnamed Israeli officials, said the deal would take place in multiple stages, the first of which would see the release of women, men over 60 and […]
BEIJING, Jan 22, 2024 (AFP) – A major 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck along the mountainous China-Kyrgyzstan border on Tuesday, triggering warnings of potentially widespread damage though no casualties were immediately reported. Local authorities dispatched a team to reach the quake’s epicentre, the Xinhua state news agency said, while some 800 people were on stand-by ready for any large disaster relief mission. The quake was registered just after 2:00 am (1800 GMT Monday) at a depth of […]
SOA, Cameroon, Jan 22, 2024 (AFP) – Cameroon on Monday launched the first malaria vaccination programme to be offered nationwide and as a matter of routine, AFP journalists saw, in a step the WHO has described as “historic”. The mosquito-borne disease kills more than 600,000 people a year, mainly in Africa, according to the World Health Organization. Children under five years old account for more than 80 percent of deaths on the continent. Following a […]
MOSCOW, Jan 22, 2024 (AFP) – The Kremlin on Monday blamed Ukraine for an attack that started a fire at gas terminal at the Baltic port of Ust-Luga over the weekend. A gas facility belonging to Novatek, Russia’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), was set ablaze on Sunday in the western port town, close to Russia’s border with Estonia. “The Kyiv regime continues to show its bestial face. They are striking civil infrastructure, […]
MOSCOW, Jan 21, 2024 (AFP) – A blaze at a natural gas terminal in the Baltic Sea port of Ust-Luga on Sunday was caused by an “external factor”, said Novatek, Russia’s biggest exporter of liquified natural gas. The operator said there were no victims and the fire was “currently localised”, at the site 110 kilometres (70 miles) west of St Petersburg near the Estonian border. Neither Novaktek nor the authorities gave further details about the […]
By Max DELANY BRUSSELS, Jan 22, 2024 (AFP) – The EU’s foreign policy chief on Monday insisted on an eventual two-state solution as he told Israel it couldn’t build peace “only by military means” ahead of talks with Israeli and Palestinian top diplomats. Josep Borrell repeated the condemnation from the United Nations of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s “unacceptable” rejection of calls for a Palestinian state after the war in Gaza. “What we want to […]
LONDON, Jan 22, 2024 (AFP) – Tens of thousands of people across the UK and Ireland were without power on Monday after Storm Isha lashed the countries with strong winds and heavy rain, disrupting travel networks. Gusts of 99 miles per hour (159 kilometres per hour) were recorded in northeast England as the whole of United Kingdom was subject to weather warnings for its ninth named storm since September. Climatologists say climate change is causing […]
KYIV, Ukraine, Jan 22, 2024 (AFP) – President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday announced draft legislation that could pave the way for foreigners fighting against Russia in his country to receive Ukrainian citizenship. Thousands of foreigners rushed at the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to help fend off Moscow’s forces trying to wrest control of the country and topple Ukraine’s leadership. “Foreign volunteers who took up arms to defend Ukraine, all those who fight for […]
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22, 2024 (AFP) – Malaysia’s former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad on Monday condemned the questioning of his son by the country’s anti-graft agency, calling it “selective” and driven by his political rivalry with the sitting government. The 98-year-old former two-time leader is a political rival and fierce critic of current Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who came to power in 2022 vowing to stamp out high-level corruption. Last week the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission […]
By Anna Maria JAKUBEK KRAKÓW, Poland, Jan 22, 2024 (AFP) – Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk was Monday due to address anti-Semitism online at an event in Poland just weeks after sparking a firestorm by endorsing an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory. The conference, hosted by the European Jewish Association, comes after Musk in November repeated a tweet on the theory and declared it the “actual truth” — before apologising. The tech tycoon has also faced accusations of […]
