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JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — At least 10 Indonesians died after tidal waves swept away a group of people meditating on a beach during Sunday’s early hours, police said. The group of 23 people was holding hands and meditating on Payangan beach, East Java province, shortly after midnight. “They were too close to the sea and could not save themselves when the tidal waves came and swept them away,” local police chief Hery Purnomo told […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — A Russian anti-submarine destroyer chased off a US submarine near the Kuril Islands, forcing it to leave the country’s territorial waters, Moscow said Saturday, amid rising tensions over Ukraine. The US military however denied the account. Russia’s defence ministry said that during planned military drills the Marshal Shaposhnikov destroyer had detected a US Navy Virginia-class submarine in Russian territorial waters near the Kuril Islands in the northern Pacific. When the […]
OSLO, Norway (AFP) — Norway on Saturday lifted its final Covid restrictions, scrapping social distancing and masks in crowded spaces despite a surge in Omicron infections. “The metre is disappearing. We are taking away the recommendation on social distancing,” Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store told reporters at a press conference. “Now we can now socialise like we did before, in nightlife, at cultural events and other social occasions. And on the way to and […]
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar’s junta on Saturday announced an amnesty for more than 800 prisoners to mark the country’s Union Day, as it held a parade and show of force in the capital. The country has been in turmoil since last year’s coup, with mass protests and a subsequent military crackdown that has killed more than 1,500 civilians, according to the UN’s human rights office. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing issued the “pardon […]
Star light, star bright, the James Webb Space Telescope has seen its first star (though it wasn’t quite tonight) — and even taken a selfie, NASA announced Friday. The steps are part of the months-long process of aligning the observatory’s enormous golden mirror that astronomers hope will begin unraveling the mysteries of the early Universe by this summer. The first picture sent back of the cosmos is far from stunning: 18 blurry white dots on […]
by Geoff Robins with Michel Comte in Ottawa Truckers snarling a key bridge between Canada and the United States in protest at Covid rules defied a judge’s order to leave Friday night, with the crowd getting even bigger two weeks into the snowballing protest movement. The days-long blockade of the Ambassador Bridge that connects Windsor, Ontario and the US city of Detroit, has paralyzed a key North American trade route, piling pressure on Prime Minister […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Saturday said it had given “conditional” approval for Pfizer’s Covid-19 drug Paxlovid to treat adults with mild to moderate illness and a high risk of developing severe disease. The National Medical Products Administration said further research on the drug needed to be undertaken and submitted to the regulator. Paxlovid has so far been authorized in several countries including the United States and Israel, while the European Union […]
MIHAIL KOGALNICEANU, Romania (AFP) — NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned Friday of the “real risk for a new armed conflict in Europe” as both the alliance and Russia are increasing their troop presences around Ukraine. Moscow has around 100,000 troops stationed close to Ukraine’s frontier and Western leaders have scrambled to hold talks with Russia fearing an attack. A total of 1,000 additional US troops — meant to bolster NATO’s eastern flank — are […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP)– President Joe Biden seized $7 billion in assets belonging to the previous Afghan government on Friday with the aim of splitting the funds between victims of the 9/11 attacks and desperately needed aid for post-war Afghanistan. Biden formally seized the assets in an executive order. The money had been stuck in the New York Federal Reserve since the fall of the US-backed government in Kabul and takeover by the Taliban […]
WELLINGTON, United States (AFP) — Protester numbers outside New Zealand’s parliament swelled Friday as police scaled back efforts to clear anti-vaccine demonstrators involved in violent clashes a day earlier. A festive mood prevailed at a makeshift tent settlement inhabitants have dubbed “Camp Freedom”, with music and dancing as police looked on from behind barricades. It was a stark contrast to the fiery scenes Thursday, when a phalanx of officers attempted to evict the protesters, arresting […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Air Force announced Thursday a set of B-52 strategic bombers had landed in Britain for scheduled NATO exercises, amid heightened tensions between the bloc and Russia over Ukraine. The North Dakota-based aircraft, support equipment, and personnel touched down at a Royal Air Force base 150 kilometers (90 miles) west of London, in Fairford, England, the command of US Air Forces in Europe said in a statement. It did […]
by Paul HANDLEY Agence France-Presse MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) – The top diplomats of the United States, Australia, Japan and India opened talks in Melbourne Friday on deepening their Quad alliance, hoping to blunt China’s expanding power across the Asia-Pacific region. “Together we are a vital network of liberal democracies committed to practical cooperation and to ensuring all Indo-Pacific nations, large and small, are able to make their own strategic decisions, free from coercion,” Australia’s Foreign […]
