International

Concern, criticism after Israel police storm Jerusalem mosque

by Ahmad GHARABLI with Mai YAGHI in Gaza Agence France-Presse JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Global criticism and concern mounted Wednesday after Israeli police clashed with Palestinians inside Islam’s third-holiest site, sparking a military exchange of rockets and air strikes, with fears of further escalation. Two more rockets were fired late Wednesday from the Israel-blockaded Gaza Strip towards Israel, the army and witnesses said, and fresh altercations broke out at Al-Aqsa mosque during the Jewish Passover […]

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China vows ‘resolute’ response to high-level US meet with Taiwan leader

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s foreign ministry on Thursday condemned the meeting between US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen in California, state media Xinhua reported. Tsai met with a delegation of US politicians from the Republican and Democratic parties during a stopover in the United States on Wednesday after visiting Guatemala and Belize, two of Taipei’s dwindling group of official allies. “In response to the seriously erroneous acts of collusion between […]

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US talks show Taiwan ‘not isolated’: President Tsai

by Romain FONSEGRIVES Agence France-Presse SIMI VALLEY, United States (AFP) — US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy welcomed Taiwan’s president in California on Wednesday, in a meeting she said reassured the island’s people they were “not isolated” in the face of rising Chinese anger. Speaking to reporters after talks with the top Republican, Tsai Ing-wen said the welcome from a large delegation of politicians from both sides of the aisle was proof Taipei had friends in […]

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Abducted journalist found alive in Mexico

Mexico City, Mexico (AFP) A journalist who was kidnapped in Mexico was found alive by authorities on Tuesday, the country’s official organization for the protection of journalists said. “Reporter Ricardo Villanueva Ake, who had been illegally deprived of his freedom on Monday, was found alive,” the State Commission for the Attention and Protection of Journalists (CEAPP) said in a statement. CEAPP did not specify where he was found or his condition, but said arrests were […]

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Japan govt survey finds 1.5 million living as recluses

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Nearly 1.5 million working-age people in Japan are social recluses, according to a new government survey, with a fifth citing the Covid-19 pandemic as the main reason for their withdrawal. The poll is Japan’s first official comprehensive probe into the prevalence of “hikikomori”, or “shut-ins” — a phenomenon affecting a broad swathe of society, from teens to the elderly. Reasons for retreating from the country’s notoriously conformist and work-focused society range […]

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France’s Macron begins China trip with Ukraine, trade on agenda

BEIJING, China (AFP) — French President Emmanuel Macron was due in Beijing on Wednesday for a visit in which he hopes to dissuade China from supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while also forging closer ties with a crucial trade partner. Macron will look to stand firm on Ukraine during talks with his counterpart Xi Jinping and offer “another path” from the directly confrontational tone often heard from Washington, an official from his office told reporters […]

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Clashes inside Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque

JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) — Clashes erupted inside the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem early Wednesday as Israeli police said they had entered to dislodge “agitators”, in a move denounced as an “unprecedented crime” by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, called on Palestinians in the West Bank “to go en masse to the Al-Aqsa mosque to defend it”. Israeli police said they had entered the mosque to dislodge “agitators” who had […]

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One dead, many hurt as Dutch train hits crane

by Julie CAPELLE and Jan HENNOP Agence France-Presse VOORSCHOTEN, Netherlands (AFP) — A Dutch passenger train derailed after smashing into a crane early on Tuesday, killing a maintenance worker and injuring 30 other people in the Netherlands’ worst rail accident for years. The double-decker train carrying around 50 people from Leiden to The Hague veered off the tracks near the village of Voorschoten at around 3:30 am (0130 GMT), ending up partly in a field. […]

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Defendant Trump slams criminal charges as ‘insult to our country’

by Gerard Martinez with Frankie Taggart in Washington Agence France-Presse PALM BEACH, United States (AFP) — Donald Trump offered a full-throated defense of his conduct Tuesday in his first public remarks since being charged over hush money payments to a porn star, blasting the criminal prosecution as “an insult to our country.” Hours earlier the 76-year-old former US president pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts in a dramatic hearing in New York that transfixed […]

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Canada opens investigation into AI firm behind ChatGPT

Canada announced Tuesday it has opened an investigation into the US-based software firm behind ChatGPT, the buzzy artificial intelligence chatbot. The investigation by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner into OpenAI was opened in response to a “complaint alleging the collection, use and disclosure of personal information without consent,” the agency said. Launched in November, OpenAI’s chatbot uses information available online to provide detailed answers to users’ queries. ChatGPT caused a global sensation when it […]

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Trump charges: hush money paid to porn star, model and doorman

New York, United States | AFP | Tuesday 4/5/2023  Prosecutors laid out a case of lies and cover-ups against Donald Trump on Tuesday over hush-money payments made to a porn star, a Playboy model and a doorman to hide potentially damaging information ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Here’s an explanation of the felony counts against Trump, the first former US president ever to face criminal charges, and what will happen next: – The charges […]

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URGENT: Earthquake of 6.3 magnitude hits off Pacific coast of Panama: USGS

  A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck off Panama’s Pacific coast on Tuesday, the US Geological Survey said, but there were no immediate reports of fatalities or damage. The quake was relatively shallow, at a depth of 12 kilometers (seven miles), the US agency said. Panama’s civil protection agency Sinaproc said the quake had a magnitude of 6.7, hit 72 km from the coast and was felt in much of the Central American isthmus nation, although […]

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