International

Russians ‘pushed away’ from Kharkiv as Washington boosts aid

by David Stout with Dmitry Zaks in Kramatorsk Agence France Presse Ukraine said Wednesday it was pushing Russian troops away from the country’s second city Kharkiv but facing stiff resistance, as Washington predicted that Vladimir Putin was ready for a long war. With President Joe Biden warning that Ukraine would within days likely run out of funds to keep fighting, the US House of Representatives voted late Tuesday to send a $40 billion aid package […]

Elon Musk says he would lift Twitter ban on Trump

  by Glenn CHAPMAN Agence France Presse Elon Musk said on Tuesday that as owner of Twitter he would lift the ban on Donald Trump, contending that kicking the former US president off the platform “alienated a large part of the country.” Musk’s endorsement of a Trump return to the global messaging platform triggered fears among activists that Musk would “open the floodgates of hate.” “I would reverse the permanent ban,” the billionaire said at […]

Myanmar junta charges central bank ex-deputy governor with corruption

Myanmar’s junta has charged a former central bank deputy governor with corruption, state media reported Wednesday, the latest figure close to Aung San Suu Kyi’s ousted government to be  prosecuted by the military. Trained in the United States and Britain, Bo Bo Nge was appointed in 2017 as liberalisation swept the Southeast Asian nation after the former junta relaxed its grip on power. He was detained shortly after the coup last year as the military rounded […]

Russians ‘pushed away from Kharkiv’ as Washington warns of long war

by David Stout with Dmitry Zaks in Kramatorsk Russian troops are being pushed away from Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, but sounded a note of caution as Washington said Vladimir Putin won’t stop with the east and is ready for a long war. Following that bleak prediction, and after President Joe Biden warned that Ukraine would likely run out of funds to keep fighting within days, the US House of Representatives voted […]

At least 148 dead in Haiti gang war, some burned alive: NGO

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) — At least 148 people have been killed in the Haitian capital, some of them burned alive, since two rival gangs launched an all out turf war late last month, a human rights organization said on Tuesday. “At least 148 people were murdered, including seven bandits (…) executed by their leader,” between April 24 and the beginning of May, declared the National Network for the Defense of Human Rights (RNDDH), after an […]

South Korea’s Yoon calls on North to trade nukes for aid

  by Sunghee Hwang Agence France Presse South Korea’s President Yoon Suk-yeol called on the North to give up its nuclear weapons in exchange for massive economic aid at his swearing-in Tuesday, describing Pyongyang’s missiles as a threat to regional and global security. Yoon, 61, who started work in an underground bunker with a security briefing on North Korea, took office at a time of high tensions on the peninsula, with Pyongyang conducting a record […]

South Korea to swear in conservative new president

  SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea will swear in hawkish new president Yoon Suk-yeol on Tuesday in a ceremony overshadowed by a recent slew of weapons tests by its nuclear-armed neighbour. Yoon, 61, takes office at a time of high tensions on the Korean peninsula, with an increasingly belligerent North Korea conducting a record 15 weapons tests since January, including two launches last week. His conservative administration looks set to usher in a […]

6.3-magnitude quake strikes off Papua New Guinea

  A 6.3-magnitude earthquake struck Tuesday in the Bismarck Sea about 200 kilometres (120 miles) off Papua New Guinea’s coast, the US Geological Survey said. A preliminary USGS assessment said there was a “low likelihood of casualties and damage from the quake”, which had an estimated depth of 10 kilometres. There were no tsunami warnings. Papua New Guinea sits on the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, which is a hotspot for seismic activity due to […]

Ecuador prison riot leaves 43 dead, 108 on the run

  SANTO DOMINGO DE LOS COLORADOS, Ecuador (AFP) — At least 43 inmates died on Monday in Ecuador’s latest grisly prison riot, the public prosecutor said, as another 100 prisoners managed to escape. Authorities said a fight broke out between the rival Los Lobos and R7 gangs inside the Bellavista prison in Santo Domingo de los Colorados, in the center of Ecuador some 80 kilometers (50 miles) from Quito. “For now there are 43 inmates […]

Downtown Beijing goes quiet as zero-Covid policy smothers capital

  BEIJING, China (AFP) — Millions of people in Beijing stayed home on Monday as China’s capital tries to fend off a Covid-19 outbreak with creeping restrictions on movement. Beijing residents fear they may soon find themselves in the grip of the same draconian measures that have trapped most of Shanghai’s 25 million people at home for several weeks. Officials there have said the eastern powerhouse city is winning its battle against China’s worst outbreak […]

60 dead in bombed east Ukraine school: Zelensky

Sixty civilians died in the bombing of a school in eastern Ukraine‘s Lugansk region this weekend, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday. “Just yesterday in the village of Bilogorivka, Lugansk region, a Russian bomb killed 60 people. Civilians,” Zelensky said during an address to the G7 summit by video conference. “They were hiding from shelling in the building of a regular school, which was attacked by a Russian air strike.” Lugansk governor Sergiy Gaiday told Russian-language television station […]

Putin vows ‘as in 1945, victory will be ours’

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday vowed that “as in 1945, victory will be ours” as he congratulated former Soviet nations on the 77th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s defeat in World War II. “Today, our soldiers, as their ancestors, are fighting side by side to liberate their native land from the Nazi filth with the confidence that, as in 1945, victory will be ours,” said Putin, who sent Russian troops into Ukraine in February. “Today, […]