Jakarta, Indonesia (AFP) Two workers including a Chinese national were killed at a nickel smelting plant in Indonesia at the weekend after a riot broke out during a protest over labour conditions, officials said Monday. The clashes began Saturday evening at the facility on Indonesia’s Sulawesi island operated by PT Gunbuster Nickel Industry (GNI), a local unit of China’s Jiangsu Delong Nickel Industry. The island is a hub for the mineral-rich country’s production of the […]
International
More rain, snow pelt California as Biden declares disaster to speed aid
by Romain FONSEGRIVES Agence France-Presse SANTA CRUZ, United States (AFP) — Soggy Californians on Sunday wearily endured their ninth successive storm in a three-week period that has brought destructive flooding, heavy snowfalls and at least 19 deaths, and forecasters said more of the same loomed for another day. “Rain and heavy mountain snow to continue across the West,” the National Weather Service (NWS) said. One to three feet (30 to 91 centimeters) of new snow […]
Latin American cocaine cartels bring violence to Europe
by Laetitia Drevet, Arthur Connan and Philippe Alfroy in France, Julie Capelle in the Netherlands, and David Salazar in Colombia Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — “Seventy euros for one, 120 for two,” said the cocaine dealer as the young woman opened her door on Paris’ chic Left Bank. “I’m like all the delivery riders speeding around Paris dropping off sushi and groceries,” he smiled. “I get orders and I deliver them.” Getting cocaine in […]
At least 67 killed in Nepal plane crash
Pokhara, Nepal (AFP) by Sagar GHIMIRE At least 67 people were confirmed dead Sunday after a plane with 72 on board crashed in Nepal, police said, in the Himalayan country’s worst aviation disaster in three decades. Six children were among those on board the ATR 72 twin-engine turboprop aircraft when it plummeted into a steep gorge, smashed into pieces and burst into flames in the central city of Pokhara, officials said. As light faded late […]
6.0-magnitude quake hits off Indonesia’s Sumatra: USGS
Jakarta, Indonesia (AFP) – A 6.0-magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra island early Monday, the US Geological Survey reported. The epicenter of the quake was 48 kilometers (30 miles) south-southeast of the city of Singkil in Aceh province, at a depth of 48 kilometers, USGS said. It occurred around 6:30 am local time (2330 GMT) and there were no immediate reports of casualties or major damage, nor was there a tsunami alert. Indonesia’s […]
‘Disastrous’ flood warning in California as another storm hits
Los Angeles, United States (AFP) by Huw GRIFFITH Disastrous flooding could hit parts of California this weekend, forecasters warned Friday, as the eighth storm in succession barreled in over land already too waterlogged to soak up any more rain. The most populous US state has been pummeled by near-record downpours over a very wet three weeks, which have already caused flooding, landslides and widespread power outages. At least 19 people are known to have died […]
US school was warned boy, 6, may have gun before teacher shot
Washington, United States (AFP) A US primary school was warned that a six-year-old student who shot his teacher might have a gun, but they did not find it in a search of his backpack, local authorities said Friday. In a case that stunned Americans increasingly accustomed to gun violence, the student apparently hid the weapon elsewhere before he shot the teacher in Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia on January 6. His teacher Abigail Zwerner, […]
Japan to start releasing treated water from Fukushima this year
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan plans to start releasing more than a million tons of treated water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean this year, a top government spokesman said Friday. The plan has been endorsed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but the government will wait for “a comprehensive report” by the UN watchdog before the release, chief cabinet secretary Hirokazu Matsuno told reporters. Cooling systems at the plant […]
Putin signals impatience over Ukraine war in commander switch
PARIS, France (AFP) – President Vladimir Putin’s move to replace his top commander in Ukraine is a sign of military disarray and his growing impatience in a war Russia is not winning, analysts said. The defense ministry in Moscow said Wednesday it had, again, replaced its top commander in Ukraine, putting army chief of staff Valery Gerasimov in charge. His predecessor, Sergei Surovikin, a veteran of Moscow’s wars since the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, will become […]
Zelensky promises ‘everything necesary’ to defend Soledar from Russia
by Susannah WALDEN Agence France-Presse BAKHMUT, Ukraine (AFP) — President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday that Ukrainian forces defending Bakhmut and Soledar in the east would be armed with everything they need to keep Russian troops at bay in some of the bloodiest battles of the war. Kyiv said earlier its troops were fighting to retain control of the now-battered industrial towns in the east, which Russian mercenaries claimed earlier this week to have taken. The […]
Peru closes tourist hub airport as nationwide protests persist
LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Weeks-long protests that have left dozens dead across Peru continued on Thursday, with escalating tensions in Andean city Cusco prompting the government to preemptively close the tourist hub’s airport. Supporters of ousted president Pedro Castillo have marched and barricaded streets around the South American country demanding new elections and the removal of current leader Dina Boluarte. The demonstrations have at times turned violent, and clashes with security forces have left 42 […]
El Salvador passes law on cryptocurrency transfers
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AFP) — El Salvador’s legislative assembly on Wednesday approved a digital assets law aimed at legally protecting transfers or debt issues with cryptocurrencies. El Salvador was the first country to adopt bitcoin as a legal currency in September 2021, using it along with the US dollar, which it adopted as its currency in 2001. The 47-article law received 62 votes in favor out of 84 seats in Congress. “El Salvador’s Legislative […]





