KHARTOUM, June 14, 2023 (AFP) – Army warplanes bombed the Sudanese city of El Obeid Wednesday, as the country prepared to mark two months of suffering since a power struggle between rival generals plunged the country into a devastating war. Since April 15, the regular army headed by Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces commanded by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo have been locked in urban combat that has left whole […]
International
China navy training ship visits the Philippines
MANILA, June 14, 2023 (AFP) — A Chinese navy training vessel berthed in the Philippines on Wednesday for a rare port visit as the two countries contest reefs and waters in the South China Sea. Dragon dances and a brass band greeted the 165-metre (542-foot) Qi Jiguang in Manila to mark its final stop on a Southeast Asian tour through Vietnam, Thailand and Brunei. “It’s a goodwill visit,” Chinese ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian […]
South Africa clinic hopes to save penguins’ future
By Claire DOYEN Agence France-Presse GQEBERHA, South Africa, June 14, 2023 (AFP) – A small fish is dangled under the beak of an emaciated penguin at a South African clinic, to whet the bird’s appetite. The sickly animal is among dozens undergoing treatment in the coastal town of Gqeberha, where a dedicated rehabilitation center is on a mission to bring African penguins back from the brink of extinction. “We are trying to reverse some of […]
EU lawmakers to back world’s first AI rules
By Raziye Akkoc STRASBOURG, France, June 14, 2023 (AFP) – European Parliament lawmakers will vote Wednesday to kickstart talks to approve the world’s first sweeping rules on artificial intelligence systems like ChatGPT, aiming to curb potential harms while nurturing innovation. Although the EU’s plans date back to 2021, the draft rules took on greater urgency when ChatGPT exploded onto the scene last year, showing off AI’s dizzying development and the possible risks. There is also […]
Malaysia seeks Interpol help to track US comedian over MH370 joke
KUALA LUMPUR, June 14, 2023 (AFP) – Malaysia will on Wednesday ask Interpol to help track down a US comedian, local media reported, after her joke about the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 sparked fury and even an apology from Singapore. Jocelyn Chia told the joke during a set at the Comedy Cellar in New York City, reportedly in April, as she riffed on the historically testy relationship between Malaysia and Singapore, where she […]
Two killed in shooting at Japan army training range
TOKYO, June 14, 2023 (AFP) – Two soldiers were killed and a third wounded when a fellow recruit opened fire at a training range in central Japan on Wednesday, the military said. “During a live-bullet exercise as part of new personnel training, one Self-Defense Forces candidate fired at three personnel,” the Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) said in a statement. “The death of another person has been confirmed of the three who were shot at,” the […]
Record 110 million people now forcibly displaced: UN
By Robin MILLARD Agence France-Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — A record 110 million people worldwide have been forcibly displaced from their homes, the United Nations said Wednesday, branding the huge upsurge an “indictment” of the world. Russia’s war in Ukraine, refugees fleeing Afghanistan and the fighting in Sudan have pushed the total number of refugees forced to seek shelter abroad, and those displaced within their own countries, to an unprecedented level, said UNHCR, the UN […]
NATO chief hopes Ukraine offensive will force Russia to negotiate
By Sebastian Smith Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States — NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told US President Joe Biden at the White House on Tuesday that Western-backed Ukraine is “making progress” in its offensive to push Russia back from occupied territories. “Ukrainians are making progress, are making advances,” he said in the Oval Office. Stoltenberg, visiting ahead of July’s NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, gave insight into how the powerful Western military bloc […]
With millions in need, Saudi announces Sudan aid funding conference
KHARTOUM, Sudan — Saudi Arabia on Tuesday announced an international conference next week to gather aid pledges for war-ravaged Sudan, where the United Nations says more than half the population urgently needs assistance and protection. Many of them are in Sudan’s Darfur region, where attacks against civilians could amount to crimes against humanity, the UN’s head of mission said. The pledging conference will be held on June 19, the official Saudi Press Agency said. It […]
Death toll in Vietnam shootings climbs to nine
The death toll following gun attacks on two police headquarters in Vietnam’s Central Highlands has risen to nine, including four officers, authorities said Monday. Twenty-six people have been arrested in connection with the rare shootings that occurred in the early hours of Sunday in Cu Kuin district of Dak Lak province, according to the website of the ministry of public security (MPS). “In the early morning of June 11, 2023, a group of people riding […]
Germany says can’t replace all tanks provided to Ukraine
FRANKFURT, Germany, June 13, 2023 (AFP) – Germany will not be able to immediately replace tanks that it is providing to Ukraine, the country’s defence minister has said, as Russia claimed to have destroyed or captured some of them. Berlin earlier this year started sending advanced Leopard battle tanks to Ukraine, after months of pleas from Kyiv for the heavy weapons to bolster its fightback against Russia. Defence Minister Boris Pistorius told broadcaster RTL, in […]
Russia says German Leopard tanks, US Bradleys captured in Ukraine
MOSCOW, June 13, 2023 (AFP) – Moscow said Tuesday that it had captured several German Leopard tanks and US Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, releasing footage showing Russian troops surveying the equipment supplied to Ukraine by Western countries. “Leopard tanks and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles. These are our trophies. Equipment of the Ukrainian armed forces in the Zaporizhzhia region,” the Russian defence ministry said in a statement. “Servicemen of the Vostok group inspect enemy tanks and […]





