NEW YORK, United States (AFP) – Wall Street stocks fell again Monday as recession fears brought volatility to financial markets, pushing the pound to an all-time low against the greenback and pressuring oil prices. After last week’s rout, US indices climbed early in the session before tumbling back into the red. Both the Dow and S&P 500 dropped more than one percent to finish at their lowest value of the year. The Dow also entered […]
International
US Vice President Harris to visit DMZ on South Korea trip
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – US Vice President Kamala Harris will visit the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone on a trip to South Korea later this week, the White House said Tuesday. Harris, who is currently in Tokyo to attend the state funeral of assassinated former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, will go to the DMZ on Thursday, a White House official said. The move is likely to spark an angry reaction from North Korea, which denounced […]
Pompeo says era of ‘blind’ China engagement ending in Taiwan speech
KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (AFP) – Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo told an audience in Taiwan on Tuesday that the era of “blind engagement” with China is ending, and that Beijing’s increasingly aggressive behavior has brought like-minded nations closer together. One of former president Donald Trump’s most hawkish advisers on China, Pompeo is the latest in a recent spate of Western politicians to visit Taiwan, often angering Beijing. Pompeo’s visit comes ahead of a major […]
Cuba, Florida brace for Hurricane Ian
by Leticia Pineda Agence France-Presse HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) — Cuba declared an emergency alert in multiple provinces Monday as fast-approaching Hurricane Ian strengthened rapidly, with Florida also ramping up preparations ahead of a likely hit. Some 50,000 people in Cuba’s western Pinar del Rio province moved to safer locations, 6,000 of them to state-run shelters and the rest to the homes of relatives and friends, local authorities said. The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) […]
Venezuela, Colombia reopen border to vehicles carrying goods
SAN ANTONIO DEL TACHIRA, Venezuela (AFP) – Venezuela and Colombia on Monday reopened their border to vehicles transporting goods following seven years of partial closure, including three years in which it was fully closed due to a political spat. Colombia President Gustavo Petro and representatives of the government of Venezuela leader Nicolas Maduro attended the ceremony. The first truck left San Antonio del Tachira on the Venezuelan side of the border just after midday and […]
Canada army deployed for hurricane cleanup
‘A new era’: NASA strikes asteroid in key test of planetary defense
Laurel, United States (AFP) by Issam AHMED NASA’s DART spaceship on Monday struck the asteroid Dimorphos in a historic test of humanity’s ability to prevent a cosmic object from devastating life on Earth. Impact occurred at 7:14 pm Eastern Time (2314 GMT), 10 months after the Double Asteroid Redirection Test probe blasted off from California to carry out its first-of-a-kind experiment. “We’re embarking on a new era, an era in which we potentially have the […]
‘Desperation’ in violence-ravaged Haiti: UN hears
UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — Officials described a “humanitarian catastrophe” in Haiti to the UN Security Council Monday, as the nation hits “new levels of desperation” after two weeks of violence and attacks on food aid warehouses. Protests and looting have rocked the already unstable nation since September 11, when Prime Minister Ariel Henry announced a fuel price hike; he says subsidies are too expensive for one of the world’s poorest states. “An economic […]
Blinken urges Pakistan to seek China debt relief after floods
by Shaun Tandon Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called Monday on Pakistan to seek debt relief from its close partner China as floods devastate the South Asian country. Blinken promised strong US support for Pakistan as it dries out from the floods, which have submerged one-third of the country, an area the size of the United Kingdom. “We send a simple message. We are here for Pakistan, […]
Finland sees record surge in Russians crossing border
Helsinki, Finland (AFP) Finland said on Monday it had recorded the year’s busiest weekend in terms of Russians entering the country, after Moscow’s military call-up announcement caused a rush for the border. “Last weekend was the busiest weekend of the year for traffic on the eastern border,” Mert Sasioglu of the Finnish border guard told AFP. The border agency said nearly 8,600 Russians entered Finland via the land border on Saturday and nearly 4,200 crossed the […]
Germany’s Scholz positive for Covid after Gulf tour
Berlin, Germany | AFP | Monday 9/26/2022 – 12:06 UTC+2 | 94 words German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has tested positive for the coronavirus and is displaying mild symptoms after returning from a tour of the Gulf, his spokesman said Monday. The 64-year-old is isolating in his apartment in the chancellery, and will attend meetings online, spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said. At the weekend, he visited Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar on a hunt […]
Russia school shooting leaves 13 dead, including children
Moscow, Russia (AFP) The death toll has risen to 13 people, including seven children, after a shooting at a school in the city of Izhevsk in central Russia, investigators said Monday. The attack was the latest in a series of school shootings that have shaken Russia in recent years and came with the country on edge over efforts to mobilise tens of thousands of men to fight in Ukraine. “Thirteen people, including six adults […]





