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WASHINGTON, Oct 19, 2023 (AFP) – China is developing its nuclear arsenal faster than US projections had previously anticipated, according to a Pentagon report released Thursday. China possessed “more than 500 operational nuclear warheads as of May 2023 — on track to exceed previous expectations” the Department of Defense said in its annual China Military Power Report, issued annually and mandated by Congress. “We’re not trying to suggest a very large departure from where they […]
By Raziye AKKOC BRUSSELS, Oct 19, 2023 (AFP) – The EU announced probes Thursday into Facebook owner Meta and TikTok, seeking more details on the measures they have taken to stop the spread of “illegal content and disinformation” after the Hamas attack on Israel. The European Commission said it had sent formal requests for information to Meta and TikTok respectively in what is a first procedure launched under the EU’s new law on digital content. […]
By Frankie TAGGART WASHINGTON, Oct 19, 2023 (AFP) – The US intelligence community has estimated there were likely 100 to 300 people killed in the strike at the Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza, according to excerpts of a document seen Thursday by AFP — far fewer than the nearly 500 deaths that health authorities in the Hamas-ruled enclave originally described. An unclassified US intelligence assessment, provided to AFP by a Capitol Hill source, estimates the […]
By David STOUT NIR OZ, Israel, Oct 20, 2023 (AFP) – The sound of distant air strikes, mortar fire and shelling echoed through kibbutz Nir Oz as Ron Bahat surveyed the damage at his devastated community near the border with Gaza. An estimated 25 percent of the kibbutz’s 400 residents were either killed, kidnapped or went missing in the dawn attack by Hamas militants on October 7, which targeted Israeli communities and military posts. Bahat, […]
WASHINGTON, Oct 20, 2023 (AFP) – Federal prosecutors on Thursday rejected Donald Trump’s attempt to have election conspiracy charges dismissed on the grounds that he enjoys immunity for actions he took while in the White House. “No one in this country, not even the president, is above the law,” special counsel Jack Smith’s team wrote in a 54-page motion filed with the judge presiding over the landmark case. Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican […]
By Frankie TAGGART WASHINGTON, Oct 19, 2023 (AFP) – Republicans lurched further into disarray Thursday as their nominee to lead the US House of Representatives looked incapable of securing the gavel and a plan to install an interim speaker collapsed in angry recriminations and accusations of bullying. President Joe Biden has announced plans to ask Congress this week for “unprecedented” aid to help Israel in its conflict with Hamas militants, understood to be part of […]
MONTREAL, Oct 19, 2023 (AFP) – Canada said Thursday it had withdrawn 41 diplomats from India — fallout from a bitter row over the killing of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil. New Delhi planned to revoke diplomatic immunity for all but 21 of Canada’s diplomats and their families by Friday, forcing Ottawa to pull out the others, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said. “We have facilitated their safe departure from India,” Joly added. “This […]
SEOUL, Oct 19, 2023 (AFP) – North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Thursday he wants to build a “forward-looking” relationship with Russia as he met with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, state media reported. The veteran envoy’s two-day visit is expected to lay the groundwork for a trip to the country by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who was invited by Kim last month at a high-profile summit in Russia’s far east. The September summit fanned […]
NIAMEY, Niger, Oct 20, 2023 (AFP) – Niger’s military rulers said they had foiled an attempt by Mohamed Bazoum, the former president they ousted in a coup in July, to escape their custody on Thursday. “At around three in the morning, the ousted president Mohamed Bazoum and his family, his two cooks and two security elements, tried to escape from his place of detention,” the regime’s spokesman Amadou Abdramane said on state television. The escape […]
By Danny KEMP WASHINGTON, Oct 20, 2023 (AFP) – President Joe Biden on Thursday said Hamas and Russia are both out to “annihilate” democracies, in an impassioned speech to the nation from the Oval Office where he made the case for assistance to Ukraine and Israel as a vital US interest. Hamas and Russian President Vladimir Putin “represent different threats but they share this in common: they both want to completely annihilate a neighboring democracy,” […]
JERUSALEM, Oct 18, 2023 (AFP) – Israel said Wednesday it would allow humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip from neighbouring Egypt, while maintaining its siege on the Palestinian territory since bloody attacks by Hamas. The devastating impact of Israel’s restrictions and constant bombardment of Gaza, home to 2.4 million people, has been a major concern among the country’s allies and became a key talking point during US President Joe Biden’s hours-long visit to Israel […]
WASHINGTON, Oct 18, 2023 (AFP) – The social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, said Tuesday it has started charging new users in New Zealand and the Philippines for basic features such as posting messages in a trial aimed at reducing spam. Tech billionaire Elon Musk, who bought Twitter last year for $44 billion, has long complained about fake accounts, bots and spam on the platform, introducing a number of controversial changes that have […]
