International

Jasper leaves path of destruction in northeast Australia

CAIRNS, Australia, Dec 13, 2023 (AFP) – Disaster-response teams fanned out across northeastern Australia on Thursday, counting the cost of a tropical cyclone that flooded major highways, uprooted trees, and left 40,000 without power. Coastal regions were battered by damaging winds and swamped by flooded rivers as Tropical Cyclone Jasper barrelled in off the Coral Sea on Wednesday evening. Although the storm was running out of steam by Thursday morning, government meteorologists warned it was […]

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From diary entries to DNA: Scientific breakthroughs free Australian mother wrongly imprisoned for decades

SYDNEY, Dec 14, 2023 (AFP) – An Australian mother jailed for 20 years over the killing of her four children was acquitted on Thursday, after scientific breakthroughs helped clear her name. Kathleen Folbigg was imprisoned in 2003 after she was convicted of killing her children, who died suddenly and without explanation between 1989 and 1999. Once dubbed “Australia’s worst female serial killer”, Folbigg doggedly fought for more than two decades to prove her innocence, and […]

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Three Japanese ministers resign over kickback scandal: reports

TOKYO, Dec 14, 2023 (AFP) – Three Japanese government ministers tendered their resignations on Thursday over a major corruption scandal in the ruling party, media reports said. The scandal surrounds allegations of kickbacks of 500 million yen ($3.4 million) within the Liberal Democratic Party, which has governed the world’s third-largest economy almost uninterrupted for decades. Those resigning were Economy and Industry Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, Internal Affairs Minister Junji Suzuki and Agriculture Minister Ichiro Miyashita, the […]

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In rare display, US-China friendship carries climate summit

By Shaun TANDON The scene would be unthinkable elsewhere these days — US and Chinese envoys, smiling and embracing, hailing their friendship as leading the world together in the right direction. But the spirit of cooperation was on full display in Dubai, where a UN climate summit on Wednesday sealed a historic if watered-down agreement to begin to transition away from oil, gas and coal, the main culprits in the planetary crisis. Hailing the summit […]

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Myanmar junta arrests two more journalists: outlet

YANGON, Myanmar, Dec 13, 2023 (AFP) – Myanmar junta authorities have arrested two journalists in night raids, their outlet said on Wednesday, as the military cracks down on independent media. Since toppling Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in 2021, the military has waged a sweeping and bloody campaign against dissent, and at least 170 journalists have since been arrested, according to the United Nations. Local outlet Dawei Watch said two of its employees were arrested […]

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Tropical cyclone Jasper threatens northeast Australia with life-threatening floods

SYDNEY, Dec 13, 2023 (AFP) – A tropical cyclone was building strength as it rolled towards northeastern Australia Wednesday, with authorities warning “life-threatening” floods could swamp coastal regions for days. Tropical Cyclone Jasper was expected to make landfall around 6:00 pm local time on Wednesday (0800 GMT), but forecasters said gale-force winds were already pummelling some towns. Some 8,000 homes are already without power, the Queensland state government said, while police have started closing major […]

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China’s Xi visits Vietnam in bid to counter US

By Alice PHILIPSON HANOI, Dec 12, 2023 (AFP) – China and Vietnam pledged on Tuesday to deepen ties during President Xi Jinping’s first visit in six years, as Beijing seeks to counter growing US influence with the communist nation. Xi met the leader of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party, Nguyen Phu Trong, on the first day of his trip, after Hanoi upgraded diplomatic ties with Washington when US President Joe Biden visited in September. Biden’s visit […]

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Japan PM to sack four ministers over graft claims: reports

By Kyoko HASEGAWA TOKYO, Dec 13, 2023 (AFP) – Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was expected to announce the sacking of four ministers on Wednesday over a major party financing scandal, media reports said. Those to be axed include Kishida’s right-hand man, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno, and Yasutoshi Nishimura, the minister of economy, industry and trade, the reports said. Others are internal affairs minister Junji Suzuki and agriculture minister Ichiro Miyashita, plus five deputy […]

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Zelensky aid plea hits Republican wall as Biden warns of ‘gift’ to Putin

WASHINGTON, Dec 12, 2023 (AFP) – President Joe Biden told President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday that the United States will not abandon Ukraine in its desperate fight against Russia, even as Republicans signaled opposition to extending US war funding. Standing alongside the Ukrainian leader at a White House press conference, Biden vowed: “I will not walk away from Ukraine and neither will the American people.” And he said that allowing a Ukrainian defeat would mean […]

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Suspended sentences in Japan army sexual assault case

By Kyoko HASEGAWA FUKUSHIMA, Japan, Dec 12, 2023 (AFP) – Three Japanese ex-soldiers were found guilty Tuesday but given only suspended jail sentences for sexually assaulting a female colleague who won praise but also online hate for going public with her accusations. Rina Gonoi, 24, broke the mould by speaking out publicly last year about her ordeal in 2021 in a country where the #MeToo movement failed to gain much ground and where many sexual […]

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Germany charges 27 over far-right ‘treason’ plot

By Deborah COLE BERLIN, Dec 12, 2023 (AFP) – German federal prosecutors said Tuesday they charged 27 suspected adherents of a far-right “terror group” arrested last year with involvement in a plot to attack parliament and overthrow the government. Among those charged are 26 people accused of membership of a nationwide extremist network around Frankfurt aristocrat and businessman Prince Heinrich XIII Reuss, and one woman accused of supporting the group. “The accused are strongly suspected […]

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Philippines records fewer storms, faces worst drought in decades

MANILA, Dec 12, 2023 (AFP) – The Philippines has so far endured fewer storms in 2023 than in any of the past 25 years and now faces potentially the worst drought in decades, officials said Tuesday. The tropical archipelago nation — which is ranked among the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate change — is usually affected by around 20 major storms a year. So far this year, only 10 have made landfall […]

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