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Lyon, France (AFP) by Daniel ABELOUS Five children including a three-year-old were among 10 people killed when a fire broke out in a seven-storey apartment building in a suburb of the French city of Lyon, the government said Friday. Fourteen people were injured, including four who required emergency treatment, after the fire erupted in Vaulx-en-Velin in the northern outskirts of Lyon, in eastern France, the local authorities said. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told reporters […]
Tokyo, Japan (AFP) by Kyoko HASEGAWA / Sara HUSSEIN Japan’s government approved a major defence policy overhaul Friday, including a significant spending hike, as it warned China poses the “greatest strategic challenge ever” to the country’s security. In its largest defence shake-up in decades, Japan vowed to up security spending to two percent of GDP by 2027, reshape its military command, and acquire new missiles that can strike far-flung enemy launch sites. “Fundamentally strengthening […]
Tokyo, Japan (AFP) by Katie Forster Japan has laid out plans to expand its defence capabilities drastically over five years. The new security strategy marks a major shift, as Japan confronts China’s growing military might. – Why are the changes controversial? – Japan’s constitution, drafted by the United States after World War II, does not officially recognise the military, so moves to bolster its capacity are highly sensitive. The constitution limits spending on the […]
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) – Google rivals on Thursday unveiled a project to make freely available data sets for map features to be built into online offerings. Alphabet-owned Google dominates online mapping, selling its services to other companies or platforms and using location and navigation capabilities to enhance its other offerings, including online advertising. Meta, Microsoft, TomTom and Amazon Web Services have now introduced what they call the Overture Maps Foundation, the goal of which […]
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) – At least eight people died after a landslide struck a Malaysian campsite Friday, officials said, as rescuers searched for dozens who were still missing. Seven people were injured in the landslide near the town of Batang Kali, just outside the capital Kuala Lumpur and near a mountain casino resort, the National Disaster Management Agency said in a tweet. Landslides are common in Malaysia after heavy rains, which are regular at the […]
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) – Twitter suspended Thursday the accounts of more than a half-dozen journalists who had been writing about the company and its new owner Elon Musk. Some of the journalists had been tweeting about Twitter shutting down an @ElonJet account that tracked flights of the billionaire’s private jet and about versions of that account hosted at other social networks. Twitter did not say why the reporters’ accounts were suspended. “Nothing says free […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – US President Joe Biden threw his support Thursday behind a larger African role in the world as he also vowed to champion democracy in a continent where China and Russia have enjoyed rising clout. “The United States is all in on Africa and all in with Africa,” Biden told nearly 50 African leaders who have spent three days in a wintry Washington summit that featured a gala White House dinner. “Africa […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – The US announced financial sanctions targeting one of Russia’s wealthiest men, Vladimir Potanin, the Treasury Department and State Department said Thursday, adding to efforts that curb Moscow’s ability to fund its war in Ukraine. The actions follow earlier moves by Washington to isolate Russia from the global financial system, and are expected to complement those of the US’s partners, according to authorities. “The Department of State is imposing sanctions on Vladimir […]
by Paul HANDLEY Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The expected US provision of Patriot missiles to Ukraine is a muscular message of support and will boost defenses against Russia’s relentless aerial assaults, but experts say its battlefield impact will be limited. Patriots are “far from a silver bullet,” against the low-flying cruise missiles and drone bombs that Russian forces have pummeled Ukraine with, according to Ian Williams of the Missile Defense Project at […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — The EU agreed a fresh round of sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine on Thursday, after complaints from hawkish eastern European leaders some countries tried to water them down. The bloc’s executive arm last week proposed a ninth round of sanctions on Moscow. They included blacklisting “almost 200” individuals and entities, targeting three banks, curbing mining investments and banning more Russian TV channels. In the face of Russian strikes […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) –The United States on Thursday committed another $2.5 billion in food assistance to Africa, pledging to help the continent cope with rising prices blamed in part on Russia’s invasion of breadbasket Ukraine. President Joe Biden laid out the new commitment at the close of a three-day summit that brought nearly 50 African leaders to Washington. Biden told leaders that the United States was concerned about rising hunger triggered “in part due […]
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) – When Debora Zilz rushed her baby son Andreas to a Berlin hospital because of a serious respiratory illness, she got a shock. “There was no space,” she recalled. Medics desperately rang other hospitals in the German capital and neighboring Brandenburg state in an effort to find a bed for the 13-day-old. “Finally, after a night in the accident and emergency department, we were able to stay here,” said the 33-year-old mother. Her […]
