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GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) — Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad announced a truce around Gaza Wednesday, after militants traded fire with Israel following the death in Israeli custody of a hunger striker from its ranks. Mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the United Nations intervened to broker a return to calm from 4 am (0100 GMT), sources in Islamic Jihad and fellow militant group Hamas told AFP. Israel did not immediately confirm the agreement. The […]
By Thanaporn PROMYAMYAI Agence France-Presse BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — One of the front-runners in Thailand’s general election hailed her newborn son as her “secret power” Wednesday as she presented the baby to the media after giving birth just two weeks before polling day. Paetongtarn Shinawatra, daughter of billionaire ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, vowed to get back on the campaign trail for the May 14 vote after giving birth on Monday. The 36-year-old has been first or […]
By Julie BOURDIN Agence France-Presse CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AFP) — With 12 storeys, a breathtaking view of Cape Town’s imposing Table Mountain and a minimal ecological footprint, the world’s tallest building made with industrial hemp is soon to open its doors in South Africa. Workers in central Cape Town are putting the finishing touches on the 54-room Hemp Hotel, which is due to be completed in June. “Hempcrete” blocks derived from the cannabis plant […]
By Paul HANDLEY Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The Pentagon said Tuesday it will deploy more troops to help provide security at the US-Mexico border as officials fear a surge in migrant crossing attempts when Covid-19 immigration restrictions end on May 11. Some 1,500 troops will be sent to the border, adding to the 2,500 already there to support Border Patrol authorities in the face of a possible gush of frontier crossings. “For […]
By Simon STURDEE Agence France-Presse NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Mohammed Azhar holds his baby niece next to a storm drain full of plastic and stinking black sludge, testament to India’s failure to treat nearly two-thirds of its urban sewage. “We stay inside our homes. We fall sick if we go out,” the 21-year-old told AFP in the Delhi neighborhood of Seelampur, where open gutters packed with plastic and sickly greyish water flow alongside […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A man accused of massacring five neighbors after they asked him to stop firing his rifle in his yard was captured Tuesday after a days-long manhunt, Texas law enforcement said. Francisco Oropesa had eluded authorities since the shooting Friday in the small town of Cleveland in southeastern Texas. “We now have this man in custody,” San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers told reporters at a press conference Tuesday night. “He […]
By Delphine Matthieussent Agence France-Presse ASHKELON, Israel (AFP) — Now 75 years old, Israel models itself as an economic success story, a leader in business, agriculture and advanced technologies — despite glaring inequalities that have left many Israelis behind. The country readily describes itself as a “start-up nation”, and its per capita GDP is higher than that of Germany, France or Britain. But “there is the start-up nation and the soup kitchen nation,” says Gilles […]
By Maher al-Mounes Agence France-Presse DAMASCUS, Syria (AFP) — Iran’s Ebrahim Raisi is set to travel to Damascus Wednesday in the first visit by an Iranian president since Syria’s civil war broke out and as regional engagement with the two allies expands. During 12 years of conflict, Tehran has provided economic, political and military support to Syria, helping Damascus claw back lost territory and positioning Iran in a leading role as President Bashar al-Assad seeks […]
By Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS Agence France-Presse UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — Press freedom is under attack in every corner of the globe, with journalists continually harassed, jailed and killed, UN officials and media outlets warned Tuesday. Speaking ahead of World Press Freedom Day on Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a rallying cry for journalists and media worldwide. “All our freedom depends on press freedom,” he said in a video message, calling it the “foundation […]
UNITED NATIONS, United States — Child marriages are declining — but at a rate that would not eliminate the practice for another 300 years, while a perfect storm of crises could yet reverse the trend, the United Nations children’s agency said Tuesday. “We definitely have made progress in the abandonment of the practice of child marriage, particularly in the last 10 years. Unfortunately, this progress was not enough,” Claudia Cappa, lead author of the UNICEF […]
WASHINGTON, May 3, 2023 (AFP) – Washington did not warn Kyiv about the top-secret documents leaked to internet chat rooms — containing sensitive information about Ukraine’s war effort — before the news broke in the media last month, President Volodymyr Zelensky told the Washington Post. The embarrassing security breach revealed US unease about a coming counteroffensive by Kyiv’s forces against Russian troops as well as concerns about Ukrainian air defenses. “I did not receive information […]
by Hillary ORINDE Agence France-Presse MALINDI, Kenya (AFP) — Two pastors were appearing before Kenyan courts on Tuesday suspected of being behind the deaths of at least 109 people found buried in what has been dubbed the “Shakahola forest massacre”. The deeply religious Christian-majority country has been stunned by the discovery of mass graves last month in a forest near the Indian Ocean coastal town of Malindi. Self-proclaimed pastor Paul Nthenge Mackenzie, who set up […]
