Moscow, Russia | AFP | US President Joe Biden is “obliged” to answer if Washington is behind three reported gas leaks on the Nord Stream pipelines from Russia to Europe, Moscow’s foreign ministry said Wednesday. “On February 7, 2022, Joe Biden said that Nord Stream would be finished if Russia invaded Ukraine,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on social media, posting a video of Biden saying “we will bring an end” to Nord Stream […]
International
Body of missing US ski mountaineer found in Nepal
Kathmandu, Nepal (AFP) by Paavan MATHEMA The body of top US ski mountaineer Hilaree Nelson was retrieved from the Himalayas by a search team on Wednesday, two days after she disappeared on the slopes of Nepal’s Manaslu peak. Nelson slipped and went missing while skiing down the world’s eighth-highest mountain after a successful summit with her partner Jim Morrison on Monday. Morrison led the search operations and had left Wednesday morning on a helicopter […]
Saudi Arabia’s crown prince named prime minister
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP | by Robbie Corey-Boulet Saudi Arabia’s Mohammed bin Salman, who was named prime minister late on Tuesday, has shaken up the ultraconservative oil titan with economic, social and religious reforms since his meteoric rise to power. The 37-year-old de facto ruler has overseen the most fundamental transformation in the modern history of the Gulf nation and sidelined all rivals after he became crown prince in June 2017. But he has […]
Typhoon Noru tears across Vietnam, Laos
Danang, Vietnam | AFP | by Tran Thi Minh Ha Typhoon Noru tore roofs from homes and caused power outages across central Vietnam Wednesday, with hundreds of thousands of people taking refuge, after the storm claimed at least 10 lives in the Philippines. In Danang, Vietnam’s third-largest city, high-rise buildings shook as the typhoon made landfall in the early hours of Wednesday, bringing winds of up to around 120 kilometres (75 miles) per hour, […]
Kremlin says ‘absurd’ to accuse Russia of Nord Stream gas leaks
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) – The Kremlin said Wednesday it was “stupid and absurd” to suspect that Russia was behind gas leaks on the Nord Stream pipelines to Europe, deemed to be a “deliberate act” by the EU. “It’s quite predictable and also predictably stupid to give voice to these kinds of narratives — predictably stupid and absurd,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters after Ukraine said the leaks were a “terrorist attack” by Moscow. Peskov […]
Stocks and oil drop as dollar gains on recession, Ukraine fears
HONG KONG, China (AFP) – Equities and crude prices fell while the dollar held at multi-year highs Wednesday as recession fears mount, and traders grow increasingly concerned about tensions between Russia and the West. Investors are keeping a close eye on London, after new finance minister Kwasi Kwarteng’s tax-cutting last week sent shock waves through markets, pushing the pound to a record low and leading to dire warnings for Britain’s economy. While Asia saw small […]
Russian strikes cut power in much of Ukraine’s Kharkiv
Kharkiv, Ukraine | AFP | by Dave CLARK Russia fired a salvo of missiles at Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv overnight, officials said on Wednesday, hitting a railway yard and knocking out power to more than 18,000 households. Kharkiv governor Oleg Synegubov said Russian forces had fired S-300 missiles, an anti-aircraft weapon now often re-purposed to hit civilian targets in Ukrainian cities. The Kharkiv regional emergency service said the blasts, which were audible in the city […]
UPDATE: North Korea fires two ballistic missiles on eve of Harris trip
– Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles on Wednesday, Seoul’s military said, just days after Pyongyang’s last test and ahead of a visit to South Korea by US Vice President Kamala Harris. The launches, part of a record-breaking blitz of weapons tests this year by North Korea, came after Seoul’s spy agency warned that Pyongyang was close to conducting another nuclear test. South Korea’s military said it […]
URGENT: Hurricane Ian strengthens to ‘extremely dangerous’ Category 4: NHC
Hurricane #Ian Advisory 22: Air Force Hurricane Hunters Find Ian Has Strengthened Into An Extremely Dangerous Category 4 Hurricane. Expected to Cause Life-Threatening Storm Surge, Catastrophic Winds and Flooding in the Florida Peninsula. https://t.co/tW4KeFW0gB — National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 28, 2022 Here are the 5 AM EDT 9/28 Key Messages for Category 4 Hurricane #Ian. More info: https://t.co/tW4KeGe9uJ pic.twitter.com/pfjRjEncLC — National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 28, 2022 Tampa, United States | AFP | Hurricane […]
Climate change at ‘point of no return’: primatologist Goodall
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) – Earth’s climate is changing so quickly that humanity is running out of chances to fix it, primatologist Jane Goodall has warned in an interview. Goodall, a grandee of environmentalism whose activism has spanned decades, said time was rapidly shortening to halt the worst effects of human-caused global warming. “We are literally approaching a point of no return,” Goodall told AFP in Los Angeles. “Look around the world at what’s […]
Sri Lanka imposes social media ban after child hunger posts
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) – Sri Lanka ordered civil servants on Wednesday not to express opinions on social media after some officials claimed schoolchildren were fainting from a lack of food due to the country’s dire economic crisis. In a fresh order to 1.5 million state employees, the Ministry of Public Administration and Management said a long-established ban on speaking to reporters now extends to social media posts. “Expressing opinions on social media by a […]
Search back on for top US ski mountaineer missing in Nepal
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AFP) – Rescuers were scouring the Himalayas by helicopter on Wednesday as they resumed the search for missing US ski mountaineer Hilaree Nelson on the slopes of Nepal’s Manaslu peak. Nelson slipped and disappeared while skiing down the world’s eighth-highest mountain, after a successful summit with her partner Jim Morrison on Monday. “Jim and others have left for an aerial search to find her. It is difficult to land or take off in […]
