International

Hamas official says group will not accept truce that does not end Gaza war

GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, May 4, 2024 (AFP) – A senior Hamas official on Saturday said the group would not accept a truce that did not completely end the Gaza war, accusing Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu of “personally hindering” a deal. Qatari, Egyptian and US mediators met a Hamas delegation in Cairo on Saturday in the latest bid to halt the devastating almost seven-month-old war that has triggered worldwide protests. They were to hear the […]

Haiti jailbreak leaves 4 inmates dead, 2 at large: police

A jailbreak at a prison in northern Haiti led to a lockdown on the streets of the coastal city of Port-de-Paix, as authorities tried to recapture escapees with a pair still at large, police said Saturday. Six fugitives had been apprehended since the Friday night escape. Four others were shot dead. Gang violence beginning at the end of February — plunging impoverished and politically unstable Haiti deeper into chaos — has led to more than […]

Investigators say bodies in Mexico likely those of missing surfers

TIJUANA, Mexico, May 5, 2024 (AFP) – Three bodies recovered from a cliff-top shaft in Mexico’s crime-hit Baja California state are very likely those of two Australian brothers and an American who disappeared on a surfing trip, local investigators said Saturday. The bodies were in an “advanced state of decomposition” when they were hoisted out of a shaft a few steps from the edge of the Pacific Ocean cliff, said state prosecutor Maria Elena Andrade. […]

Floods in southern Brazil kill 57, force 70,000 from homes

By Carlos FABAL PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil, May 5, 2024 (AFP) – Raging floods and mudslides have killed at least 57 people in southern Brazil and forced nearly 70,000 to flee their homes, the country’s civil defense agency said on Saturday. At least 74 people were injured and another 67 missing from the catastrophic flooding, civil defense said. The toll did not include two people who died in an explosion at a flooded gas station in […]

‘Radicalized’ 16-year-old shot dead by police in Australia

SYDNEY, May 5, 2024 (AFP) – Western Australian police shot and killed a “radicalised” 16-year-old boy with a knife who had stabbed a man in a Perth car park, police and the state premier said Sunday. The teenager “rushed” at police who responded by shooting him twice with Tasers before firing a single fatal shot, they said. “There are indications he had been radicalised online. But I want to reassure the community at this stage […]

Flood-hit Kenya and Tanzania buffeted by tropical cyclone

By Tanya WILLMER NAIROBI, May 4, 2024 (AFP) – Coastal regions of Kenya and Tanzania were buffeted by heavy rains and high winds from a tropical cyclone on Saturday, adding to the chaos caused by deadly floods that have ravaged the region. More than 400 people have lost their lives across East Africa and tens of thousands have been uprooted from their homes in recent weeks as torrential rains triggered flooding and landslides that engulfed […]

Seoul spy agency warns N. Korea plotting attacks on embassies

SEOUL, May 3, 2024 (AFP) – South Korea’s spy agency said Friday that Pyongyang was plotting “terrorist” attacks targeting Seoul’s officials and citizens overseas, with the foreign ministry raising the alert level for diplomatic missions in five countries. The National Intelligence Service said it had recently “detected numerous signs that North Korea is preparing for terrorist attacks against our embassy staff or citizens in various countries, (such as) China, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East”. […]

Israel builds ‘cyber dome’ against Iran’s hackers

By Alexandra VARDI TEL AVIV, May 3, 2024 (AFP) – Israel’s Iron Dome defence system has long shielded it from incoming rockets. Now it is building a “cyber dome” to defend against online attacks, especially from arch foe Iran. “It is a silent war, one which is not visible,” said Aviram Atzaba, the Israeli National Cyber Directorate’s head of international cooperation. While Israel has fought Hamas in Gaza since the October 7 attack, it has […]

Abandoned homes in Japan surge to almost 4 million

The number of abandoned homes in Japan has soared to almost four million over the last 20 years, government data showed, as a shrinking population guts rural communities. About 3.85 million homes were vacant nationwide in 2023, around 80 percent more than in 2003, according to a government survey released Tuesday. The internal affairs ministry’s review, conducted every five years, showed that the number of abandoned homes increased by about 360,000 from 2018. With the […]

US accuses Russia of using ‘chemical weapon’ in Ukraine

WASHINGTON, May 2, 2024 (AFP) – The US State Department accused Russia Wednesday of having used a chemical weapon against Ukrainian forces in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, while also announcing fresh sanctions against Moscow. In addition to the chemical agent chloropicrin, Russia also used “riot control agents (tear gas) as a method of warfare in Ukraine, also in violation of the CWC,” the department said in a factsheet. “The use of such chemicals […]

Polish officials condemn arson attack on Warsaw synagogue

WARSAW, May 1, 2024 (AFP) – Polish authorities on Wednesday condemned an arson attack against a Warsaw synagogue. Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, quoting the country’s chief rabbi, said “someone tried to set fire to the Nozyk synagogue with a Molotov cocktail”. “Thank God no-one was hurt,” the minister added in a post on X, formerly Twitter. “I condemn this shameful attack on the Nozyk synagogue in Warsaw,” Polish President Andrzej Duda wrote on X. “Anti-Semitism […]