International

Biden calls India ‘shaky’ in Russia confrontation

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Joe Biden said Monday that India was an exception among Washington’s allies with its “shaky” response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Biden lauded the US-led alliance, including NATO, the European Union and key Asian partners, for its united front against President Vladimir Putin. This includes unprecedented sanctions aimed at crippling Russia’s currency, international trade and access to high-tech goods. However, unlike fellow members of the Quad group […]

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Two injured in attack at Swedish school

MALMO, Sweden (AFP) — Two people were injured and rushed to hospital on Monday after a “suspected serious crime” at a secondary school in the southern Swedish town of Malmo, police said. It was not immediately known what happened but police said there had been no reports of gunfire. “One person has been arrested. Police have the situation under control,” police said in a statement issued around 6:30 pm (1730 GMT). The incident took place […]

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JUST IN: Plane carrying 133 crashes in China, casualties unknown

BEIJING, China (AFP) — A China Eastern passenger jet carrying 133 people has crashed in southwest China with an unknown number of casualties, state broadcaster CCTV reported Monday. The Boeing 737 plane crashed in the rural countryside near Wuzhou city, Guangxi region and “caused a mountain fire”, CCTV said, adding that rescue teams were dispatched to the scene. © Agence France-Presse

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Four dead, one missing, as storms batter New Zealand

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — Wild storms lashed New Zealand’s North Island Monday, claiming at least four lives when a fishing vessel sank and causing chaos in the country’s biggest city Auckland, officials said. Four bodies were recovered and another person was missing after a chartered fishing boat went down off the remote Northland coast late Sunday, police said, with five survivors stable after being plucked from the raging seas. The military sent two air […]

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Hong Kong to lift ban on flights from nine countries in April

by Su Xinqi HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong is set to resume international flights from the United States, Britain and seven other countries, the government said Monday as it announced a loosening of some of the world’s toughest Covid-19 restrictions. The finance hub has struggled to maintain China’s zero-Covid policy during an Omicron-fuelled outbreak. After the highly transmissible variant fuelled a fresh wave of cases in January, authorities quickly put in place flight […]

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Biden to travel to Poland to discuss Ukraine crisis: W.House

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Joe Biden will travel to Poland on Friday to meet with President Andrzej Duda for discussions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the White House said Sunday. “The President will discuss how the United States, alongside our Allies and partners, is responding to the humanitarian and human rights crisis that Russia’s unjustified and unprovoked war on Ukraine has created,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement. […]

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Germany to ‘fast-track’ gas terminals as part of Qatar deal

DOHA, Qatar (AFP) – Germany has committed to “fast track” the construction of two liquefied natural gas terminals as part of a new long-term deal with Qatar as it looks to reduce dependence on Russian gas, the Gulf state said Sunday. Economic Affairs Minister Robert Habeck secured the accord during talks in Doha with its emir and energy minister who have been pressing European nations to strike long-term deals to guarantee their supplies. European states […]

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Ukraine rejects Russian ultimatum to surrender Mariupol

KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) – Ukraine has rejected an ultimatum to surrender the besieged port city of Mariupol to Russian forces, its deputy prime minister told Ukrainian media Monday. “There can be no talk of surrendering weapons. We have already informed the Russian side of this,” Iryna Vereshchuk told Ukrainska Pravda newspaper. “It’s a deliberate manipulation and it’s a real hostage situation,” she added of the demand. Russia gave the city an ultimatum late Sunday, urging […]

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Bodies of US marines found after Norway military crash

OSLO, Norway (AFP) – The bodies of four US marines killed when their plane crashed during NATO exercises in Norway have been retrieved, Norway’s defence ministry said Sunday. A Norwegian Sea King rescue helicopter found the bodies at the accident site south of Bodo in northern Norway where their V-22B Osprey aircraft belonging to the US Marine Corps was reported missing on Friday evening. The ministry said the bodies would be brought to Bodo prior […]

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Brazil Supreme Court judge lifts ban on messaging app Telegram

Brasília, Brazil (AFP) – The Supreme Court judge who had ordered messaging app Telegram blocked in Brazil reversed the ruling Sunday, after the tech company complied with an earlier decree to make changes to the platform. “Considering that the (court’s requested changes) were fully attended to, I revoke the decision to fully and completely suspend the operation of Telegram in Brazil,” Judge Alexandre de Moraes wrote in a document released by the court. Citing what he […]

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Japan presses UAE to pump more oil as Ukraine war spikes prices

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — Japan on Sunday urged the United Arab Emirates to pump more oil to calm markets rocked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the latest major consumer to lobby Gulf producers. The plea by Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi came during meetings with Emirati officials which coincided with a visit by Germany’s economy minister, three weeks into the Russian offensive. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also flew to the UAE and […]

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North Korea fires ‘multiple rocket launchers’: Seoul

North Korea fired multiple rocket launchers on Sunday, Seoul said, the latest in a series of provocations by the nuclear-armed nation to heighten tensions in the region. Pyongyang launched a string of banned weaponry this year and tested what it claimed were components of a “reconnaissance satellite” — although Seoul and Washington have described them as a new ICBM system. “There were shots suspected to be from North Korea’s multiple rocket launchers this morning,” said the Joint Chiefs of […]

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