International

Russia pushing towards two towns in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region

    Moscow, Russia | AFP | Sunday 1/22/2023 Moscow’s forces are pushing towards two towns in Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region, where fighting intensified this week after several months of a stagnant front, Russian state media reported Sunday. Russian-installed official in the region Vladimir Rogov said offensive actions were concentrated around two towns: Orikhiv, around 50 kilometres (30 miles) south of Ukrainian-controlled regional capital Zaporizhzhia, and Hulyaipole, further east. “The front is mobile, especially in two […]

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Next New Zealand PM slams ‘abhorrent’ treatment of Ardern

Wellington, New Zealand | AFP | Sunday 1/22/2023 by Daniel GILHOOLY New Zealand’s incoming prime minister Chris Hipkins criticised the “abhorrent” treatment endured by Jacinda Ardern and vowed on Sunday to shield his own family, three days after her shock resignation. Hours after being unanimously endorsed by Labour Party MPs as the party’s leader and the nation’s next prime minister, Hipkins attacked the personal abuse suffered by Ardern during her more than five years in […]

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China logs nearly 13,000 Covid deaths in a week

  Beijing, China | AFP | China reported nearly 13,000 Covid-related deaths in hospitals between January 13 and 19, after a top health official said the vast majority of the population had already been infected. The death toll came a week after China said nearly 60,000 people had died with Covid in hospitals in just over a month — but there has been widespread scepticism over official data since Beijing abruptly axed anti-virus controls last […]

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DEVELOPING STORY: Ten dead in mass shooting in Asian city in California

Monterey Park, United States (AFP) by Gilles CLARENNE Ten people have died and at least 10 others have been wounded in a mass shooting in a largely Asian city in southern California, police said Sunday, with the suspect still at large hours later. The gunman opened fire at a dance venue in Monterey Park, as the local community were celebrating Lunar New Year, with witnesses saying he shot indiscriminately with a semiautomatic weapon. Captain Andrew […]

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France gripped by strikes, protests against pension reform

by Alice HACKMAN Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — More than a million people marched in France on Thursday to protest pension reforms, with some demonstrators clashing with police in Paris, as strikes disrupted public transport, schools and much of the civil service. The interior ministry put the total number of protesters marching against President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to extend the retirement age at 1.2 million, including 80,000 in Paris. The hard-left CGT union said […]

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US announces $2.5 bn in new weaponry, munitions for Ukraine

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States announced a massive new package of arms and munitions for Ukraine on Thursday as the country prepares for a new stage of war against Russia. The package does not feature battle tanks requested by Kyiv, but includes 90 Stryker armored personnel carriers, an additional 59 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, Avenger air defense systems, and large and small munitions, according to a Pentagon statement. “The 59 Bradley IFVs […]

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Thousands march in Peru capital to demand president step down

by Carlos MANDUJANO / Luis Jaime CISNEROS Agence France-Presse LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Thousands of protesters began marching through Peru’s capital Thursday to demand the president’s resignation and fresh elections, following weeks of violent unrest that have left 44 people dead. Police said they were on “maximum alert” and have deployed 11,800 officers in Lima ahead of expected trouble from demonstrators demanding that President Dina Boluarte step down. Some small scuffles were already breaking out […]

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Bird statue fetches $100,000 as Musk auctions Twitter HQ items

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) – A Twitter bird statue fetched $100,000 on Wednesday as Elon Musk auctioned off furniture, decorations, kitchen equipment and more from the tech firm’s downtown San Francisco headquarters. An online auction of “surplus corporate office assets of Twitter” that lasted slightly more than 24 hours also featured a 10-foot neon light in the shape of Twitter’s bird logo, which brought in a winning bid of $40,000, Heritage Global Partners auction service […]

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Spanish woman tipped as ‘world’s oldest person’ at 115

BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) – A Spanish great-grandmother who was born in the United States has likely become the world’s oldest living person at 115, a Guinness World Records consultant said Wednesday. Maria Branyas Morera is believed to have assumed the title following the death on Tuesday of French nun Lucile Randon aged 118, senior consultant for gerontology Robert D. Young said. Guinness World Records must still make the official decision after carrying out document checks and […]

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New Zealand PM Ardern announces she will resign next month

Wellington, New Zealand | AFP | Thursday 1/19/2023 New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced Thursday she will resign next month. “For me it’s time,” she said at a meeting of members of her Labour Party. “I just don’t have enough in the tank for another four years.” Ardern, who became prime minister in a coalition government in 2017, then led her centre-left Labour Party to a comprehensive victory in an election three years later, […]

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Turkey asks US for F-16 jets amid NATO, Congress rows

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Turkey on Wednesday appealed to the United States to expedite F-16 jets, a sale some US officials hope could coax Ankara to lift objections to NATO expansion but is bitterly opposed by a key senator. Meeting US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said he intended to discuss his country’s request for modernized versions of the mainstay F-16 fighter jets. “As we said together before, this […]

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Jury hears Musk told ‘lies’ that cost Tesla investors millions

by Glenn CHAPMAN / Julie JAMMOT Agence France-Presse SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — A lawyer for angry Tesla investors told a California courtroom on Wednesday that CEO Elon Musk “lied” about having funding in place to take the company private, costing his clients millions of dollars. More than four years after Musk fired off tweets saying he had funding secured to buy the electric car maker at $420 a share, investors who felt burned […]

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