International

Twitter exodus begins after Musk ‘hardcore’ ultimatum

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) – Employee departures were multiplying at Twitter on Thursday after an ultimatum from new owner Elon Musk, who demanded staff choose between being “extremely hardcore” and working intense, long hours, or losing their jobs. “I may be #exceptional, but gosh darn it, I’m just not #hardcore,” tweeted one former employee, Andrea Horst, whose LinkedIn profile still reads “Supply Chain & Capacity Management (Survivor) @Twitter.” She added the hashtag “#lovewhereyouworked,” as did […]

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New wave of Russian strikes batter Ukraine grid as first snow falls

by Ania TSOUKANOVA Agence France-Presse KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Fresh Russian strikes hit cities across Ukraine on Thursday, crippling the country’s energy infrastructure and plunging millions into darkness as winter sets in and temperatures drop. Repeated barrages have disrupted electricity and water supplies across Ukraine, but the Kremlin blamed civilians’ suffering on Kyiv’s refusal to negotiate, rather than on Russian attacks. AFP journalists in several Ukrainian cities said the latest assault coincided with the season’s […]

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N. Korea fires suspected ICBM, Seoul and Tokyo say

Seoul, South Korea (AFP)  – North Korea fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile Friday, Seoul’s military said, its second launch in two days, which Japan said had splashed down in its exclusive economic zone. Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it had “detected a presumed long-range ballistic missile around 10:15 (0115 GMT) fired from the Sunan area in Pyongyang towards the East Sea,” referring to the body of water also known as the Sea of […]

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Amazon confirms it has begun laying off employees

SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) – Amazon confirmed on Thursday that it is laying off staff, after days of rumors that the e-commerce behemoth would become the latest tech giant to unleash a large-scale redundancy plan amid a souring economic environment. “The economy remains in a challenging spot and we’ve hired rapidly the last several years,” wrote chief executive Andy Jassy in an internal memo published on the Amazon website. US media have previously reported that […]

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Japan PM says N. Korean missile fell in exclusive economic waters

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A suspected intercontinental ballistic missile launched by North Korea on Friday is believed to have fallen in Japan’s exclusive economic waters, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said. Kishida called the launch “absolutely unacceptable”, saying there had been no reports of damage to ships or aircraft. “The ballistic missile launched by North Korea is believed to have landed in our EEZ (exclusive economic zone) west of Hokkaido,” Kishida told reporters in Bangkok, […]

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North Korea fires suspected intercontinental ballistic missile, Seoul says

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea fired a suspected intercontinental ballistic missile Friday, Seoul’s military said, the second launch in two days as Pyongyang continues a record-breaking blitz that has sent fears of a nuclear test soaring. A South Korean defense official told AFP that they “estimated that North Korea had fired an ICBM”, without giving further details. Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff earlier said it had detected the “launch of an unidentified ballistic […]

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Ticketmaster cancels public sale of Taylor Swift tickets

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) – After days of glitches and long waits frustrated fans trying to buy Taylor Swift tickets during presale windows, Ticketmaster on Thursday said they were cancelling tomorrow’s slated public sale. “Due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand, tomorrow’s public on-sale for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour has been cancelled,” the ticketing broker tweeted. It was not immediately clear whether that […]

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McDonald’s suspends operations in Kazakhstan

ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AFP) – McDonald’s announced Thursday it was suspending operations in Kazakhstan due to supply problems as the Central Asian state gears up for an early election this weekend. A relative of the first Kazakh president Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kairat Boranbayev, runs a McDonald’s franchise in Kazakhstan. On Sunday, the country will hold a snap presidential vote expected to cement incumbent Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s grip on power, months after deadly unrest shook the nation and left more than […]

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Pelosi to step down as top Democrat after Republicans take House

by Caitlin Wilson and Chris Lefkow Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the trailblazing first woman to wield the speaker’s gavel in the US House of Representatives, said Thursday that she will step down as party leader when Republicans take control of the chamber in January. “I will not seek reelection to Democratic leadership in the next Congress,” Pelosi said in an emotional speech on the House floor. “The hour has […]

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One dead in Greece migrant dinghy sinking: coastguard

ATHENS, Greece (AFP) – Greece’s coastguard on Thursday said a man drowned and several more were rescued in the latest migrant boat sinking in the Aegean Sea. The coastguard said two of its patrol boats responded to a distress call near the island of Kos late on Wednesday. They found 11 men in the water, one of them unconscious. He was pronounced dead on arrival at Kos harbor, the coastguard said. Two weeks ago, two migrant […]

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Myanmar junta to release UK ex-ambassador, Australian and Japanese prisoners

Yangon, Myanmar (AFP) ADDS fresh quote, 200 gathered outside prison, Australian FM statement Myanmar’s military said Thursday it will release almost 6,000 prisoners, including a former British ambassador, a Japanese journalist and an Australian economics adviser, in a rare olive branch from the isolated junta. The Southeast Asian country has been in turmoil since the military’s coup last year and a bloody crackdown on dissent during which thousands have been jailed. Former British envoy Vicky […]

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Xi spat with Trudeau lays bare China’s frayed ties with Canada

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (AFP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping scolded Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in an on-camera dressing down at the G20 summit, an unusual public spat that could further complicate the strained relations between the two countries. Footage recorded by reporters at the Bali conclave for world leaders on Wednesday showed Xi upbraiding Trudeau after details of a discussion between the two leaders were leaked to the media. Trudeau had on Tuesday raised […]

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