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by Jurgen HECKER, Adam PLOWRIGHT and Stuart WILLIAMS Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — French President Emmanuel Macron and his far-right rival Marine Le Pen on Monday kicked off a final fortnight of bruising campaigning for the French presidency in a run-off that polls predict risks being tight. With 97 percent votes counted, Macron came in first in Sunday’s first round of voting with 27.6 percent of the vote. Le Pen was second […]
by Sofia Miselem Agence France Presse MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Sunday easily won a divisive referendum he promoted on whether he should step down or complete his term — a vote marked by low turnout. With an approval rating of nearly 60 percent, Lopez Obrador’s presidency had never appeared seriously at risk, and the left-wing populist was himself one of the vote’s biggest cheerleaders. The 68-year-old […]
At least two bodies were discovered inside a manhole at a petrol station on a motorway outside Kyiv on Sunday, an AFP reporter saw. The bodies appeared to be wearing civilian clothing. AFP saw police and military at the site, using a tanker to suck water from inside the manhole. There appeared to be two bodies inside, one under a sleeping mat. The bodies were discovered on a motorway west of Kyiv, near the village […]
by Sam KINGSLEY Agence France Presse HELSINKI, Finland (AFP) — Finland is preparing for a potentially historic decision “before midsummer” on whether to apply to join NATO as a deterrent against Russian aggression. The Nordic nation of 5.5 million has traditionally been militarily non-aligned, in part to avoid provoking its eastern neighbour, with which it shares a 1,300 kilometre (830 mile) border. But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 saw public support for […]
by Herve BAR Agence France Presse Ukraine is preparing for “big battles” against Moscow’s forces in the east of the country, officials in Kyiv said, as thousands of civilians flee in fear of an imminent Russian offensive. Evacuations resumed on Saturday from Kramatorsk, in eastern Ukraine, where a missile strike killed 52 people at a railway station a day earlier, as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson became the latest Western leader to visit Kyiv. Hailing […]
KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson walked through the streets of Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on a surprise visit Saturday, weeks after the city was attacked by Russian forces and remains vulnerable. Zelensky’s office published a video of the pair walking through the largely empty city centre guarded by what appeared to be snipers and other heavy security. They walked through Kyiv’s main Kreshchatyk street to the Maidan square, […]
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AFP) — Imran Khan was thrown out of office as Pakistan prime minister Sunday after losing a no-confidence vote in the national assembly. The drama caps weeks of machinations by the opposition aimed at unraveling the tenuous coalition Khan built around his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to become premier in 2018. Following are brief profiles of the key players in the saga: – Shehbaz Sharif – The brother of three-time prime minister Nawaz […]
by Zain Zaman JANJUA and Nasir JAFFRY Agence France Presse ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AFP) — Imran Khan was dismissed Sunday as Pakistan’s prime minister after losing a no-confidence vote in parliament following weeks of political turmoil. A new premier will be chosen Monday, with Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) chief Shehbaz Sharif almost certain to be picked to lead the nuclear-armed nation of 220 million people. No prime minister has ever served a full term in […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China is battling its biggest spike in coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, with millions under lockdown and the healthcare system feeling the pressure. One of the last countries sticking to a zero-Covid strategy, China aims to stamp out every infection with strict lockdowns and by sending all cases to secure facilities. That is placing a strain on China’s already under-pressure medical system, as the highly transmissible Omicron […]
by Hervé BAR Agence France Presse KRAMATORSK, Ukraine (AFP) — A rocket attack on a train station in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk killed dozens on Friday, as civilians raced to flee the Donbas region bracing for a feared Russian offensive. World leaders condemned the attack with US President Joe Biden accusing Russia of being behind an “horrific atrocity” while the French government called it a “crime against humanity” and British Prime Minister […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia said on Friday it was shutting down the local offices of more than a dozen international organisations including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Fifteen organisations have been taken off Russia’s registry of international organisations and foreign NGOs due to “violations of the current legislation of the Russian Federation,” the justice ministry said in a statement without providing further details. Russia also shut […]
SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — China’s President Xi Jinping praised the country’s “tested” zero-Covid strategy on Friday, even as Shanghai authorities prepared nearly 130,000 beds for Covid-19 patients amid surging cases and mounting public anger. Until March, China had kept cases low with localized lockdowns, mass testing, and strict restrictions on international travel. But the country has reported thousands of daily cases in recent weeks, with economic hub and outbreak epicenter Shanghai placed under lockdown over […]
