International

UN concerned about arrests of environmental activists in Vietnam

(UN GENEVA, Switzerland) The UN Human Rights Office spokesperson, Jeremy Laurence, has voiced deep concerns regarding the arrest, detention, and sentencing of environmental human rights defenders in Vietnam. Laurence stressed that these concerns encompass both the charges they face and the fairness of their trials. During a recent press briefing, Laurence said, “Yesterday, Hoang Thi Minh Hong became the fifth of six environmental human rights defenders arrested from 2021 to 2023 to be sentenced. She […]

Continue Reading →

Muizzu: Pro-China winner of Maldives election

  MALÉ, Maldives, Sept 30, 2023 (AFP) – The next president of the Maldives is an ardent advocate of Chinese investment who promised to steer the luxury tourism hotspot back towards Beijing’s orbit if he wins. Mohamed Muizzu, 45, roundly defeated incumbent leader Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on Saturday and is set to be sworn in on November 17. A British-educated civil engineer, he was an unlikely candidate for the presidency after serving as construction minister […]

Continue Reading →

Record number of children attacked and killed in DR Congo: UN

KINSHASA, Sept 30, 2023 (AFP) – The Democratic Republic of Congo is on track to see record numbers of children killed, maimed, kidnapped or sexually assaulted in 2023 for the third consecutive year, the UN said on Saturday. The number of “grave violations against children” in the conflict-racked country is estimated to be more than 1,700 for the first half of 2023, said UNICEF, the United Nations children’s agency — which marks a 41 percent […]

Continue Reading →

Guatemala prosecutors seize vote tallies after scuffle

GUATEMALA CITY, Sept 30, 2023 (AFP) – Police from the Guatemala prosecutor’s office scuffled Saturday with magistrates in the electoral court while seizing boxes containing tally sheets from this year’s presidential election, in a move denounced in foreign capitals. “We are no longer the guarantors of any records. They took all the boxes with the results,” magistrate Blanca Alfaro told reporters moments after the chaotic scene at the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE). Alfaro and other […]

Continue Reading →

Last-gasp drama moves US away from government shutdown

By Maria DANILOVA WASHINGTON, Sept 30, 2023 (AFP) – Last-ditch moves to prevent a US government shutdown took a dramatic step forward Saturday, as Democrats overwhelmingly backed an eleventh-hour Republican measure to keep federal funding going for 45 days, albeit with a freeze on aid to Ukraine. The stopgap proposal adopted by the House of Representatives with a vote of 335-91 was pitched by Speaker Kevin McCarthy just hours before a midnight shutdown deadline that […]

Continue Reading →

Nagorno-Karabakh empties as Armenia says 100,000 have fled

By Karen MINASYAN with Armine GEVORGYAN in YEREVAN KORNIDZOR, Armenia, Sept 30, 2023 (AFP) – The flood of refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh dwindled to a trickle Saturday as Armenia said nearly the entire population of the breakaway territory had already fled since Azerbaijan seized back control. An AFP journalist at the Kornidzor crossing into Armenia saw only several ambulances arrive as border guards said they were waiting for a final few buses. In the nearest town […]

Continue Reading →

Paw patrol: Philippine security guards adopt stray cats

MANILA, Sept 30, 2023 (AFP) – A cat wearing a black-and-yellow security vest strolls nonchalantly past security guards lined outside a Philippine office building waiting to receive instructions for their shift. Conan, a six-month-old stray, joined the security team of the Worldwide Corporate Center in the capital Manila several months ago. He is one of the lucky moggies unofficially adopted by security guards across the city, where thousands of cats live on the street. While […]

Continue Reading →

State of emergency declared as torrential rains paralyze New York

Heavy rains overnight in the northeastern United States left parts of New York under water on Friday, partially paralyzing subways and airports in America’s financial capital. LaGuardia airport closed down one of its terminals, with social media images showing passengers walking through water well above the tops of their shoes. Mayor Eric Adams urged people not to venture out because the streets were blocked and subway stations flooded. “If you are home, stay home. If […]

Continue Reading →

What happens if US government enters a shutdown?

WASHINGTON, Sept 30, 2023 (AFP) – The United States is heading toward a government shutdown this weekend with no foreseeable way out of a deadlock in Congress over hardline Republican calls for deep spending cuts. The new US fiscal year begins on October 1, but sharp disagreements in the Republican Party over the scale of federal debt has prevented passage of the bills needed to keep the government funded and open. The credit ratings agency […]

Continue Reading →

US government hours from shutdown, funding chaos

WASHINGTON, Sept 30, 2023 (AFP) – The US government on Saturday was hours from shutting down after the far right of the Republican Party scuppered final attempts at a temporary budget agreement, throwing into doubt everything from access to national parks to Washington’s massive support for Ukraine. The closure of all but critical government services, set to start after midnight Saturday (0400 GMT Sunday) if lawmakers fail to reach a deal, would be the first […]

Continue Reading →

Malaysia blames Indonesian fires for haze, poor air quality

  KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 30, 2023 (AFP) – Hundreds of forest fires in Indonesia have caused haze to reach areas of Malaysia where it has worsened air quality, Kuala Lumpur’s top environment official has said. Outbreaks of smog-belching forest fires in 2019 caused Malaysia to say it would pressure Indonesia to combat the annual problem, which is often caused by blazes lit to clear agricultural land. Malaysia’s Department of Environment director-general Wan Abdul Latiff Wan […]

Continue Reading →
1 … 217 218 219 220 221 … 2,486