International

Pres. Xi urges steps to ‘protect’ lives as China battles Covid wave

Beijing, China (AFP) Chinese President Xi Jinping urged officials on Monday to take steps to protect lives in his first public remarks on Covid-19 since Beijing dramatically loosened hardline containment measures this month. Having mostly cut itself off from the rest of the world during the pandemic, China is now experiencing the planet’s biggest surge in infections after abruptly lifting restrictions that torpedoed the economy. Studies have estimated that around one million people could die […]

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Jersey blast death toll rises to 10: police

London, United Kingdom (AFP) The death toll in a suspected gas explosion in Jersey has risen to 10 following the death of a 73-year-old woman, police said on Monday. The blast early on December 10 flattened a three-storey apartment complex in St Helier, the capital of the self-governing British Crown dependency off the coast of northern France. The woman who died lived in an adjacent building to the one which collapsed. She died in Jersey […]

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17 dead in days of heavy snow in Japan

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – Heavy snowfall across large parts of Japan has killed 17 people over the last 10 days, with thousands of homes suffering power outages, Japanese officials said Monday. Much of the country’s west coast as well as the northern region of Hokkaido have seen persistent heavy snow in recent days. Some areas have seen almost a meter of snowfall in 24 hours, including the town of Oguni in northeastern Yamagata region, local media […]

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Ukrainian drone downed in Russian air base, 3 killed: agencies

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) – Russian air defense troops downed a Ukrainian drone as it approached an air base in southern Russia and three people died after being struck by debris, Russian news agencies said Monday. It was the second attack on the Engels base this month. Engels, in the southern Saratov region, lies more than 600 kilometres (370 miles) from Ukraine. “On December 26, at around 01:35 Moscow time (2235 GMT), a Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicle […]

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Rescuers search for two missing after Austria avalanche

VIENNA, Austria (AFP) – Rescuers searched for two people who remained missing after an avalanche at a ski resort in western Austria, officials said. The avalanche came down around 3:00 pm (1400 GMT) at an altitude of 2,700 meters (8,858 feet) in the Lech Zurz ski area and was thought to have trapped around 10 skiers, police said. Rescuers backed by helicopters and dogs scoured for survivors. Eight people had been found, two of them injured, […]

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Philippines jails Spanish man on small arms charges

Agence France Presse — The Philippines has jailed a Spanish man after he was convicted for weapons possession, nearly five years after his arrest, the Philippine justice department said Thursday. Army counter-terrorism troops in January 2018 arrested Abdelhakim Labidi Adib, 20 at the time, at a checkpoint on the southern island of Basilan, a stronghold of armed Islamist militants. They alleged Labidi Adib, a Spanish citizen of Tunisian descent who described himself as a tourist, […]

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China conducts military exercises near Taiwan over US ‘provocations’

Agence France Presse — China conducted military exercises near Taiwan on Sunday in response to “provocations” and “collusion” between the United States and the self-ruled island, a People’s Liberation Army spokesperson said. Beijing claims democratic, self-ruled Taiwan as part of its territory, to be taken one day by force if necessary, and has ramped up military, diplomatic and economic pressure on the island. Beijing has been incensed by US President Joe Biden’s handling of Taiwan […]

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Bus crash in western Canadian province of B.C. claims 4 lives

By: Thomas I. Likness Eagle News Service (Eagle News) — Four people are dead after a bus traveling on an icy highway in the southern interior of British Columbia went out of control and rolled. All 53 people aboard the bus were taken to hospital. Thirty-six people suffered injuries ranging from minor to serious. Health officials say eight people remain in hospital. The bus had been en route to Vancouver from Kelowna. Because of the […]

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Savage US blizzard leaves 31 dead, power outages, travel snarls

Agence France Presse — A brutal winter storm brought Christmas Day danger and misery to millions of Americans Sunday as intense snow and frigid cold gripped parts of the eastern United States, with weather-related deaths rising to at least 31. A crisis situation was unfolding in Buffalo, in western New York, where a blizzard has left the city marooned, with emergency services unable to reach high impact areas. “It is (like) going to a warzone, […]

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Suspect in Paris shooting transferred to psychiatric unit

Paris, France (AFP) by Murielle Kasprzak and Alexandre Hielard A French man suspected of killing three people in a “racist” attack at a Kurdish cultural centre in Paris has been transferred to a psychiatric unit, prosecutors said, as police and demonstrators clashed in the French capital. Prosecutors said the 69-year-old white suspect had been removed from custody for health reasons on Saturday and taken to a police psychiatric facility. The shots at the cultural centre and […]

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Harry, Meghan brand UK tabloid apology for column ‘PR stunt’

  London, United Kingdom (AFP) Prince Harry and wife Meghan on Saturday accused The Sun of a “PR stunt” after the British tabloid apologised and said it regretted publishing a much-criticised column about the couple. The piece, in which former “Top Gear” host Jeremy Clarkson said he “hated” Meghan, sparked a big backlash and became the UK Independent Press Standards Organisation’s (IPSO) most complained-about article. In it, Clarkson said he dreamed of the day when […]

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Ten killed in fuel tanker explosion near Johannesburg: rescuers

Ten people died and around 40 others were injured when a fuel tanker exploded in Boksburg, a South African city east of Johannesburg, emergency services said Saturday. The tanker, transporting liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), was caught beneath a bridge close to a hospital and houses on Saturday morning. “We received a call at 0750 telling us a gas tanker was stuck under a bridge. Firefighters were called to extinguish the flames. Unfortunately, the tanker exploded,” […]

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