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by Michael Mathes Agence France-Presse UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday demanded President Vladimir Putin be held to account as he faced Russia in a Security Council session in which the United Nations cataloged abuses in Ukraine. Pressure has swelled against Moscow as world leaders attend the UN General Assembly, but in the highly anticipated first encounter between the top Russian and US diplomats since the war […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — At least 17 people have been killed as popular unrest flared Thursday across Iran over the death in custody of Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini, local media reported, as online services were cut in a security crackdown. Amini, 22, died last week after her arrest by the Islamic republic’s feared morality police for allegedly wearing a hijab headscarf in an “improper” way, and news of her death sparked widespread outrage. Protesters have […]
by Sarah TITTERTON Agence France-Presse HAMILTON, Bermuda (AFP) — The beach chairs and umbrellas were put away, storefronts were covered and a lighthouse illuminated racing clouds overhead as Bermuda braced Thursday for Hurricane Fiona, a powerful Category 4 storm that has left a trail of destruction in the Caribbean. Wind and waves were picking up as darkness fell over the British territory, and Bermudians rushed to the safety of their sturdy homes ahead of the […]
by Dmytro GORSHKOV Agence France-Presse KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Moscow began its mandatory troop call-up Thursday to try to bolster a stumbling war effort in Ukraine, with authorities saying thousands had volunteered even as Russian men fled the country to avoid being forced to fight. Amateur footage posted on social media since President Vladimir Putin ordered the mobilization of reservists on Wednesday purported to show hundreds of Russian citizens across the country responding to military […]
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AFP) — Hurricane Fiona churned toward Bermuda as a powerful Category 4 storm on Wednesday as Puerto Rico struggled to restore power and water after receving a crushing blow. The US National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Fiona was expected to approach Bermuda, a British territory of some 64,000 people, late on Thursday. In Washington, the State Department advised Americans to reconsider travel to Bermuda and authorized family members of US government […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — President Vladimir Putin’s ally Viktor Medvedchuk and 55 servicemen were handed over to Russia in a record-high prisoner swap with Kyiv, a leader of Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine confirmed Thursday. “Fifty-six people were released, 55 of them servicemen… Viktor Medvedchuk was also released from captivity,” Denis Pushilin told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency, referring to the former Ukrainian lawmaker, who was accused of high treason. Medvedchuk, 68, is one […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) – China’s former justice minister faces life in prison after a court handed him a suspended death sentence on Thursday for taking bribes and “bending the law”. Fu Zhenghua’s death sentence will be commuted to life imprisonment after a two-year reprieve, the Intermediate People’s Court in the city of Changchun said in a statement. The high-profile sentencing — part of a sweeping anti-graft campaign — comes just three weeks before a key […]
ISTANBUL, Turkey AFP) – A mysterious reference on US television to an imminent Russia-Ukraine prisoner swap highlights Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s unique role as mediator and friend of both sides in time of war. Erdogan flew to New York from a meeting in Uzbekistan with Russian President Vladimir Putin — his third in three months — to tell US viewers on Monday that the Kremlin “is willing to end this (war) as soon as […]
by Ania Tsoukanova Agence France Presse KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — Ukraine on Wednesday announced the exchange of a record-high 215 imprisoned soldiers with Russia, including fighters who led the defence of Mariupol’s Azovstal steelworks that became an icon of Ukrainian resistance. Russia received 55 prisoners including Viktor Medvedchuk, a former Ukrainian lawmaker and ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin accused of high treason, Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily address. The swap […]
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Ten prisoners of war from countries including the United States and Britain have been transferred to Saudi Arabia as part of an exchange between Russia and Ukraine, the Saudi foreign ministry said Wednesday. The prisoners, who also hail from Sweden, Morocco and Croatia, arrived in Saudi Arabia from Russia, and Saudi authorities “are facilitating procedures for their safe return to their respective countries”, the statement said. The move came following […]
Phnom Penh, Cambodia -(AFP) by Suy SE Cambodia’s UN-backed Khmer Rouge war crimes court gave its final verdict Thursday, upholding the genocide conviction and life sentence imposed on the regime’s last surviving leader. The tribunal was ruling on an appeal by Khieu Samphan, head of state for the murderous communist regime which wiped out a quarter of the Cambodian population in less than four years in the 1970s. It is the last verdict that will […]
Mexico City, Mexico (AFP) — A strong earthquake jolted Mexico on Thursday, sending people rushing out into the streets of the capital in the middle of the night, days after a powerful tremor left at least two people dead. The epicenter of the 6.9-magnitude quake was near the Pacific coast, 84 kilometers (52 miles) south of Coalcoman in the western state of Michoacan, the national seismological agency reported. The US Geological Survey (USGS) estimated the […]
