ISLAMABAD, Jan 22, 2024 (AFP) – Three universities affiliated with Pakistan’s military were shut over security threats in the capital Islamabad on Monday, police said. Pakistan is due to vote in general elections in two weeks amid overlapping political, economic and security crises — with a spike in militant attacks targeting police and soldiers. An Islamabad police official told AFP on condition of anonymity that the National Defence University, Bahria University and Air University in […]
International
Dozens buried, eight killed in southwest China landslide
By Matthew WALSH BEIJING, Jan 22, 2024 (AFP) – Dozens of people were buried and eight confirmed killed when a landslide struck a remote and mountainous part of southwestern China on Monday. The pre-dawn landslide buried 18 homes and sparked the evacuation of more than 200 people when it struck in Zhenxiong County, Yunnan province, state media said. Eight people are confirmed dead and rescuers have extracted four, according to a report by state broadcaster […]
Vietnam sentences nine to death for drug trafficking
HANOI, Jan 22, 2024 (AFP) – Vietnam sentenced nine people to death and two others to life in prison on Monday for their involvement in a cross-border drug trafficking ring, state media reported. The Southeast Asian country has some of the world’s toughest drug laws, and is notoriously secretive about its executions. At the end of a three-day trial, a court in central Nghe An province sentenced ringleader Tran Thi Mau, 56, and eight accomplices […]
Trump closes in on Republican presidential nomination in New Hampshire
By Frankie TAGGART MANCHESTER, United States, Jan 22, 2024 (AFP) – Donald Trump aims to sew up the Republican presidential nomination after the contest narrowed to a two-horse race with Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s withdrawal less than 48 hours before the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday. Short of a defeat in the Granite State, or a close second-place for his remaining rival Nikki Haley, the timeline to Trump’s nomination as the candidate to face President […]
Wanted crypto boss Do Kwon’s Terraform files for US bankruptcy
SINGAPORE, Jan 22, 2024 (AFP) – South Korean entrepreneur Do Kwon’s Terraform Labs, whose cryptocurrencies crashed dramatically in 2022, is seeking bankruptcy protection in the United States, according to court documents filed Sunday. The collapse of the Singapore-based firm’s TerraUSD and Luna wiped out around $40 billion in investments and caused wider losses in the global crypto market estimated at more than $400 billion. Kwon, who co-founded Terraform in 2018, was arrested last year in […]
German train drivers’ union calls six-day strike
FRANKFURT, Germany, Jan 22, 2024 (AFP) – German train drivers will hold a six-day strike this week, the GDL union said, the longest walkout yet in an escalating row with Deutsche Bahn over pay and working hours. The strike is due to start at 2:00 am (0100 GMT) on Wednesday and last until 1700 GMT on Monday. For freight services, the stoppage is due to begin at 1700 GMT on Tuesday, GDL said in a […]
UN panel to grill Russia on fate of Ukrainian children
By Agnès PEDRERO GENEVA, Jan 22, 2024 (AFP) – Moscow will be asked to explain at the UN on Monday what has happened to thousands of Ukrainian children believed to have been forcibly sent to Russia since its 2022 invasion. The United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child — 18 independent experts — is set to examine Russia’s record over two days, as part of a regular review. Their lengthy list of concerns […]
Taiwan detects record six Chinese balloons
TAIPEI, Jan 22, 2024 (AFP) – A record six Chinese balloons were detected around Taiwan, with one flying directly above the island, Taipei’s defence ministry said Monday. Five were seen near the northern coastal city of Keelung while one flew above the island near southern Pingtung county, a map released by the ministry showed. The defence ministry, which releases daily data on China’s military presence around Taiwan, said the balloons were all spotted on Sunday […]
Russia charges four after protests spark police clash: monitor
MOSCOW, Jan 22, 2024 (AFP) – Four people have been charged over rare demonstrations in the isolated Russian region of Bashkortostan, a monitoring group said Monday, after police and protesters clashed over a local activist’s jailing. Thousands took to the streets of the small town of Baymak in freezing temperatures last week week, and were met by riot police in a rare display of public outrage in Russia. They were supporting Fail Alsynov, a local […]
Thailand backtracks on scope of discovered lithium deposits
BANGKOK, Jan 22, 2024 (AFP) – Thailand has backtracked on an announcement that it found millions of tonnes of lithium deposits last week, with the government downgrading the scope of its discovery. On Friday, Bangkok announced it had found nearly 15 tonnes of lithium deposits at two sites in the southern province of Phang Nga, which would have ranked its reserves third in the world. But officials had instead discovered 14.8 million tonnes of mineral […]
Russia detains man for plotting arson attack on army
MOSCOW, Jan 22, 2024 (AFP) – Russian security services in Siberia have detained a man accused of allegedly planning arson attacks on military facilities in the Altai republic, news agencies reported on Monday. Since launching full-scale hostilities in Ukraine in February 2022, Moscow has detained a slew of Russians and foreign citizens for allegedly working with Kyiv or planning attacks on army installations. The local branch of the FSB security services said the Russian suspect […]
47 buried in southwest China landslide
BEIJING, Jan 22, 2024 (AFP) – Forty-seven people were buried in a landslide in China’s southwestern Yunnan province on Monday, state media reported. The landslide took place at 5:51 am (2151 GMT Sunday) in Zhenxiong County, state news agency Xinhua reported, citing local authorities. State broadcaster CCTV said around 18 households were buried in the landslide, and that more than 200 people were “urgently evacuated” from the area. Authorities have launched an emergency response involving […]
