The head of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, which is spearheading the longest battle of Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine, has complained his forces still lack ammunition, blaming possible “betrayal”. Kremlin-ally Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose recruits have been fighting for months to capture the battle-scarred city of Bakhmut, has been entangled in a power struggle with the defence ministry and accused them of withholding supplies. In a post on social media late on Sunday, Prigozhin complained that Russian […]
International
Four Americans shot at, kidnapped in northeast Mexico: FBI
Washington, United States | AFP | Four American citizens were shot at and kidnapped by armed men after driving across the US border into northeastern Mexico, the FBI said Sunday. The Americans crossed into Matamoros, in Tamaulipas state, on Friday, driving a white minivan with North Carolina license plates, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation said in a statement released by the US embassy in Mexico. “Shortly after crossing into Mexico, unidentified gunmen fired upon the passengers in […]
Pakistan suicide bomber kills nine police officers
Quetta, Pakistan (AFP) — A suicide bomber killed nine police officers and wounded 16 others Monday in an attack on their truck in southwestern Pakistan, officials said. Security forces have been battling a years-long insurgency by militants in Balochistan demanding a bigger share of the province’s wealth, as well as attacks by the Pakistan Taliban (TTP). “The suicide bomber was riding a motorbike and hit the truck from behind,” senior police official Abdul Hai Aamir […]
‘Forget the war’: Ukraine ski slope offers respite from conflict
by Peter MURPHY Agence France-Presse BUKOVEL, Ukraine (AFP) — Far from the Ukraine war’s frontlines, only the whirring of generator-powered ski lifts disturbs the calm at Bukovel in the country’s west, a winter resort nestled in the pine-forested Carpathian Mountains. For Liliya, an English interpreter from Ukraine’s Sumy region just 20 kilometres from the Russian border, who declined to give her surname for safety reasons, a first-time skiing holiday offered welcome if only brief respite. […]
Afghan universities reopen but women still barred
by Estelle Emonet and Qubad Wali Agence France-Presse KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — Male students trickled back to their classes Monday after Afghan universities reopened following a winter break but women remain barred by Taliban authorities. The university ban is one of several restrictions imposed on women since the Taliban stormed back to power in August 2021 and has sparked global outrage — including across the Muslim world. “It’s heartbreaking to see boys going to the […]
Pakistan suicide bomber kills nine police officers
QUETTA, Pakistan (AFP) — A suicide bomber killed nine police officers and wounded 16 others on Monday in an attack on their truck in southwestern Pakistan, officials said. “The suicide bomber was riding a motorbike and hit the truck from behind,” senior police official Abdul Hai Aamir told AFP. The incident took place at Dhadar, the main town of Kachhi district, some 120 kilometers (75 miles) southeast of Quetta in Balochistan. Mehmood Notezai, police chief […]
Seoul announces plan to compensate victims of Japan wartime forced labor
by Kang Jin-kyu Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea announced plans Monday to compensate victims of Japan’s forced wartime labor, but without direct Japanese involvement, as Seoul seeks closer ties with Tokyo to counter Pyongyang. South Korea and Japan are both key regional security allies of the United States, but bilateral ties have long been strained over Tokyo’s brutal 1910-45 colonial rule of the Korean peninsula. Around 780,000 Koreans were conscripted into […]
Seven missing as boat capsizes off disputed Japan islands
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s coastguard said Monday it was searching for seven people missing after their boat capsized and was spotted in waters off the Tokyo-controlled Senkaku islets, which are also claimed by China. The overturned boat was spotted on Sunday afternoon, drifting in waters north of the islands by a Japanese navy patrol in the area, coastguard spokesman Keisuke Nakao told AFP. The crew are one Taiwanese and six Indonesians, he added. “We […]
In Selma, Biden says US must face ‘the good, the bad’ of its history
SELMA, United States (AFP) — President Joe Biden on Sunday stressed the importance of knowing the whole of US history, both “good” and “bad,” as he commemorated the brutal suppression 58 years ago of a civil rights march in Selma, Alabama. “History matters,” the president said during a speech at the Edmund Pettus Bridge, where a march of hundreds of peaceful activists was violently suppressed by police on March 7, 1965. “Bloody Sunday” only catalyzed […]
Earthquakes, back-to-back cyclones batter Vanuatu
Port Vila, Vanuatu | AFP | Friday 3/3/2023 The Pacific nation of Vanuatu was under a state of emergency Friday, after two earthquakes and two cyclones hit in as many days. As the country cleared roads and restored power lines cut by Cyclone Judy, residents were jolted early Friday by twin earthquakes and told to hunker down for a second approaching storm — Cyclone Kevin. “It’s crazy, Vanuatu is used to natural disasters, but […]
The model for Asia’s Quad? The Beatles, says Japan’s top diplomat
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — As Asia’s “Quad” powers search for ways to define the group, Japan’s foreign minister has offered a model — The Beatles. Yoshimasa Hayashi, an avid music fan, drew the parallel to the Fab Four on Friday, as he met his Quad counterparts from the United States, Australia and India in New Delhi. “This is kind of a band like The Beatles. The members are fixed and they always play together […]
Lawyer found guilty of killing wife, son in case that captivated US
by Paul HANDLEY Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A US jury on Thursday found lawyer Alex Murdaugh guilty of murdering his wife and son on their hunting estate. Scion of an elite South Carolina family of judges and attorneys, Murdaugh, 54, was described as having killed his son Paul with a shotgun and his wife Maggie with the assault rifle Paul used for hunting wild pigs on the family’s sprawling property. Following the […]
