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by Anna SMOLCHENKO Agence France-Presse MOSCOU, Russia (AFP) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was due in Moscow Tuesday in search of a diplomatic solution to avoid a war in Ukraine as the West and Russia signalled tentative hopes of an easing in the tense standoff. His talks with Vladimir Putin are the latest in an intense diplomatic scramble to dissuade the Russian leader from attacking his ex-Soviet neighbour Ukraine. Western leaders consider the Russian troop […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later Tuesday, local media reported, as Tokyo expressed “grave concerns” about the risk of a Russian invasion. There was no immediate official confirmation of the call, which Japanese media said would happen on Tuesday evening local time, citing government sources. The call comes as Russia appeared to open the door to a diplomatic resolution of the Ukraine standoff, and […]
by Mohd RASFAN Agence France-Presse KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) – In the six months since taking back control of Afghanistan, the Taliban have erased all visible signs of the former government from the capital. Gone are flags of the former republic, murals of national heroes, and memorials honouring those killed in Taliban attacks. Blast walls are now covered with slogans of the new Islamic Emirate. “With the help of God, our nation defeated the Americans,” reads […]
by Mumen KHATIB ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday visited the United Arab Emirates for the first time in nearly a decade to revive relations that were long strained by regional disputes. He was greeted in the capital Abu Dhabi by Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, the UAE’s de facto ruler, who had travelled to Ankara in November on the first high-level visit to Turkey […]
SAINT-LAURENT-DE-LA-SALANQUE, France (AFP) — Seven people including two children were killed overnight from Sunday to Monday in a fire caused by an unexplained explosion in southern France, prosecutors said. Residents reported hearing a blast around 1:30 am (0030 GMT) that set buildings ablaze on both sides of a street in the small seaside town of Saint-Laurent-de-la-Salanque, around 15 kilometers (nine miles) from the city of Perpignan. “I heard a very loud explosion, then I saw […]
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP) — A strike by Zimbabwean teachers that has crippled learning entered a second week on Monday, with no resolution on sight after the government suspended 135,000 teachers for failing to report for work. Many teachers did not report for work when schools opened for the first term of the new year last week, saying they could no longer afford the commute from their home to the classroom. An AFP correspondent who toured […]
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — An AirAsia passenger plane was forced to divert and make an unscheduled landing after a snake was spotted slithering through the overhead lights, the Malaysian budget carrier confirmed Monday. In a viral video social media users were quick to link with Samuel L. Jackson cult classic “Snakes on a Plane”, the creature’s silhouette could be seen wriggling in the cabin’s light fittings. The incident, which the airline described as “very […]
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) — Sweden’s public health agency on Monday recommended a fourth dose of the Covid-19 vaccine for people over the age of 80, those in nursing homes and those receiving at-home care. The agency said the jab should be taken four months after the previous dose, at the earliest. “The spread of Covid-19 is still intense in Sweden. An increasing number of cases have been reported in recent weeks, including among people at […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong’s health facilities have been overloaded by an “onslaught” of Covid-19 infections, its leader said, as a rise in Omicron cases threatens to bring down the city’s “zero-Covid” policy. Authorities have adhered to mainland China’s policy of stamping out the smallest outbreak with mass quarantine, widespread tracking, and prolonged social distancing measures since the start of the pandemic. But the extremely contagious Omicron variant breached the Chinese territory’s defenses […]
by Dmitry ZAKS Agence France-Presse KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz lands in Kyiv on Monday before visiting Moscow to try to head off a “very critical” threat of a Russian invasion that would spark the worst crisis in Europe since the Cold War. Scholz’s visit comes with Kyiv seeking an urgent meeting with Russia explaining why it has deployed more than 100,000 soldiers to Ukraine’s borders while arguing with NATO about its […]
JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) – Israeli police clashed with Palestinians in the flashpoint east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah on Sunday, as a visit by a controversial far-right Jewish lawmaker inflamed tensions. Police said two people were arrested as they tried to contain “a violent riot”, in the area of annexed east Jerusalem that has emerged as a symbol of Palestinian resistance against Israeli control of the city. Scuffles broke out as Itamar Ben Gvir of the […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s airforce said Sunday that it had recovered the body of one of two crewmen of a fighter jet that went missing two weeks ago. The F-15 fighter jet was on a training mission on January 31 when it disappeared from radar shortly after taking off from Komatsu airbase in the central Ishikawa region, sparking a search for its missing crew. The airforce said a body was found on Friday by […]
