UNITED NATIONS, United States, Sept 19, 2023 (AFP) – US President Joe Biden urged the United Nations on Tuesday to authorize a multinational “security support mission” led by Kenya to deal with gangs in strife-torn Haiti. “I call on the Security Council to authorize this mission now. The people of Haiti cannot wait much longer,” Biden told the UN General Assembly in New York. Haitian authorities and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have been pleading for […]
International
‘Cybersecurity incident’ hits ICC
THE HAGUE, Sept 19, 2023 (AFP) – The International Criminal Court said Tuesday it had been affected by what it called “anomalous activity” regarding its IT systems and that it was currently responding to this “cybersecurity incident.” The ICC, which among other things is investigating war crimes in Ukraine, declined to provide further details and said its priority was on ensuring it was able to continue its work. “At the end of last week, […]
China asks consulates in Hong Kong for local staff details
HONG KONG, Sept 19, 2023 (AFP) – China has given foreign consulates in Hong Kong a month to submit their local staffers’ names, home addresses and job descriptions, according to diplomatic sources and documents seen by AFP on Tuesday. The documents include a letter in English and Chinese dated Monday from Beijing’s Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (OCMFA), as well as two forms for consulates to fill in with their […]
Peru bus plunges into ravine, killing 25
LIMA, Sept 18, 2023 (AFP) – A bus plummeted from the edge of a narrow mountain road in southeastern Peru on Monday, killing 25 people including two children, according to authorities. The accident occurred before dawn when the bus traveling between two Andean towns careened down a 200-meter (656-foot) ravine in the region of Huancavelica, a police official told AFP. “The toll is 25 dead and 34 injured,” Defense Minister Jorge Chavez said. Images of […]
India denies involvement in slaying of Sikh leader in Canada
NEW DELHI, Sept 19, 2023 (AFP) – India on Tuesday rejected the “absurd” allegation that its agents were behind the killing of a Sikh leader in Canada, after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s bombshell accusation sent already sour diplomatic relations to a new low. Ottawa also expelled a diplomat it described as the head of India’s foreign intelligence service in Canada, prompting a tit-for-tat order from New Delhi for a Canadian diplomat to leave. Trudeau said […]
Musk says X could charge all users ‘small monthly payment’ to combat bots
PARIS, Sept 19, 2023 (AFP) – Elon Musk has sparked outrage among fans of his social media platform X by suggesting he might introduce a monthly fee for all users, in what would be the biggest shake-up since he took over the site then known as Twitter last October. During a talk with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, Musk said that introducing a small monthly payment for X would combat the “armies of […]
Developing story: Russian Defence Minister Shoigu arrives in Iran on official visit: Russian news agencies
MOSCOW, Sept 19, 2023 (AFP) – Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu arrived in Iran on an official visit on Tuesday to deepen Moscow’s defence ties with Tehran, which provides Russia with attack drones for its Ukraine offensive, Russian news agencies reported. “During the visit, the Russian Defense Ministry delegation will hold a number of talks with the republic’s military leadership,” the ministry said, according to a statement carried by Russian news agencies. This is a […]
Black bear captured after shutting down Disney World rides
MIAMI, Sept 18, 2023 (AFP) – An apparently hungry black bear forced a brief shutdown of some attractions at Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in Florida until it was captured, officials said. Local television station Fox 35 said more than a dozen popular rides at the Orlando theme park were closed after the bear was sighted in a tree, including the “Haunted Mansion” and “Pirates of the Caribbean.” “During the fall, bears are more active as […]
Indonesia hosts first-ever ASEAN military drills
BATAM, Indonesia, Sept 19, 2023 (AFP) – Militaries from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations began their first-ever joint exercises on Tuesday in Indonesia, with a Myanmar representative present despite the bloc’s ban on its junta leaders. ASEAN countries have participated in multinational defence drills before, but these are the first featuring just the bloc, which is battling perceptions of irrelevance on major regional issues such as the turmoil in Myanmar and disputes in the […]
Seoul summons Russian ambassador after Kim-Putin summit
SEOUL, Sept 19, 2023 (AFP) – South Korea summoned the Russian ambassador Tuesday, the foreign ministry said, to warn Moscow over military cooperation with North Korea after Kim Jong Un met President Vladimir Putin in Russia. Kim spent nearly a week touring Russia’s far east before returning home Monday, visiting a space centre and weapons factories, on a trip which has fanned Western fears that isolated, nuclear-armed Pyongyang could provide Moscow with weapons for its […]
US Abrams tanks to enter Ukraine ‘soon’: US defense secretary
Ukraine will “soon” receive M1 Abrams tanks from the United States as Kyiv’s forces make “steady” progress in a counter-offensive against Moscow’s troops, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Tuesday. Washington had promised the tanks to Kyiv at the beginning of the year, part of more than $43 billion in security assistance pledged by the United States since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. “I’m… pleased to announce that the M1 Abrams tanks that […]
Escaped Chinese crocodiles all captured: state media
Dozens of crocodiles that escaped a flooded Chinese farm have all been recaptured, state media reported on Tuesday, a week after the reptilian runaways wriggled free. More than 70 reptiles escaped from a commercial crocodile farm in the southern Chinese city of Maoming earlier this month after a typhoon inundated the area. Authorities in Guangdong Province launched an expansive hunt, with state broadcaster CCTV running footage of workers in rain boots dragging a crocodile out […]





