International

Zelensky, Ukraine’s comic turned war-time leader

KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) – Dark circles under his eyes, his beard closely cropped and dressed ubiquitously in khaki, President Volodymyr Zelensky is the face of Ukraine’s determination to expel Russian troops. War has proved transformative for the 44-year-old former comedian, catapulting him from embattled leader of a struggling European outlier to a global household name and standard-bearer of opposition to Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Yet his larger-than-life persona and seeming popularity could not have appeared more […]

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Georgia runoff Senate vote a new test for Biden

by Camille CAMDESSUS Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP)  — Choosing between a pastor and a former football star, voters in Georgia will decide Tuesday on a seat in the US Senate in an election with high stakes for Joe Biden’s presidency. Democratic senator Raphael Warnock and his Republican challenger Herschel Walker, who is backed by former president Donald Trump, will clash in a hotly contested runoff after neither of the African American candidates earned […]

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Invasion of Ukraine revives nuclear warfare nightmare

by Cecile FEUILLATRE Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Banished from public consciousness for decades, the nightmare of nuclear warfare has surged back to prominence with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, highlighting the erosion of the Cold War global security architecture. With Moscow on the back foot in its offensive, the military stalemate has raised fears Russia could resort to its nuclear arsenal to achieve a military breakthrough. Russia, along with Britain, China, France and the […]

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Ukraine races to restore power grid post-Russia strikes as winter comes

  KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Ukraine worked to restore power on Tuesday after Russia’s latest wave of missile strikes caused power disruptions across the country, right as winter frost builds and temperatures plunge. Out of the 70 missiles launched by Moscow, “most” were shot down, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, but the barrage still hit Ukraine’s already battered infrastructure. Fresh power cuts were announced in all regions “due to the consequences of shelling,” national electricity provider […]

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China will come to standstill for late leader Jiang’s memorial

  BEIJING, China (AFP) — Sirens will wail across China as the country comes to a standstill Tuesday during a public memorial service for former leader Jiang Zemin, who died last week at the age of 96. Jiang oversaw a transformational era from the late 1980s into the new millennium, taking power in the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown and leading China towards its emergence as a powerhouse on the global stage. But […]

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Colombia landslide kills 34

BOGOTÁ, Colombia (AFP) — Heavy rains in northwest Colombia sent a wall of earth crashing onto a winding road, swallowing up a bus and other vehicles and killing 34 people, emergency services said Monday. The landslide Sunday evening prompted a large rescue effort, with dozens of people in hard hats using backhoes and excavators to dig through the earth looking for victims. The National Unit for Disaster Risk Management said the fatalities included eight minors […]

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Pres. Putin visits Crimea bridge after October blast

Moscow, Russia (AFP) President Vladimir Putin on Monday visited a bridge that links Moscow-annexed Crimea to the Russian mainland weeks after the vital link was hit by a blast, images on state television showed. It was the closest the 70-year-old Russian leader has come to the frontline in Ukraine, after sending troops to the pro-Western country on February 24. Putin drove a Mercedes across the bridge as Russia re-opened it to traffic following an October […]

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Japan eyes 56% increase in defence budget over five years

Tokyo, Japan (AFP) Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida instructed ministers on Monday to boost the country’s defence budget by 56 percent over the next five years to $318 billion. The government is overhauling its defence and security strategies in response to regional threats from nuclear-armed North Korea and an increasingly assertive China. Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada said Kishida told him that “the size of the medium-term defence programme for the next five years, which is […]

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Armageddon to wet lettuce: The phrases that defined 2022

Paris, France (AFP) A year of extraordinary upheaval, from the war in Ukraine to catastrophic natural disasters, AFP looks at some of the words and phrases that have defined 2022. – Armageddon – With the war in Ukraine and increasingly strident threats from Russian President Vladimir Putin, the spectre of nuclear warfare is stalking the globe for the first time in decades. “We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban […]

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Russian President Putin briefed about airfield incidents: Kremlin

Moscow, Russia (AFP)  Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday was briefed about incidents at airfields in the central Saratov and Ryazan regions, the Kremlin said. News reports said two Russian airfields including a base for the country’s strategic aircraft that Kyiv says have been used to strike Ukraine, had been rocked by explosions. The reports have sparked speculation that Ukraine might be behind the blasts. Both sites are hundreds of kilometres away from Ukraine’s border. […]

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Russia says oil price cap will not stop Ukraine offensive

Moscow, Russia (AFP) Russia shrugged off a Western-imposed price cap on its oil exports on Monday, warning that it would not disrupt its military campaign in Ukraine. The $60-per-barrel price cap agreed by the European Union, G7 and Australia aims to restrict Russia’s revenue while making sure Moscow keeps supplying the global market. “Russia’s economy has all the necessary potential to fully meet the needs and requirements of the special military operation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry […]

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URGENT: Air raid sirens across Ukraine, two killed in missile attack in south: officials

Kyiv, Ukraine (AFP) Ukraine officials in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia said Monday that two people had been killed by Russian missiles as authorities in several regions urged residents to shelter from a fresh Russian missile barrage. The head of the Zaporizhzhia region said two people were killed and two more injured in attacks that damaged residential homes, while Kyiv region officials said air defences were repelling Russian attacks and several regional governors called on […]

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