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OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Canada’s Quebec province on Thursday announced a nighttime curfew ahead of New Year’s Eve celebrations as Covid cases across the country soar. Several provinces in recent days introduced stricter gathering limits, while delaying students’ return to school after the Christmas holidays. Quebec Premier Francois Legault said the 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew would start on Friday, and that it was needed to slow a Covid-19 surge that is threatening to overwhelm […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin was satisfied with his phone call with Joe Biden but warned the US leader against introducing major sanctions amid tensions over Ukraine, the Kremlin said. Putin’s foreign policy adviser Yury Ushakov said the Kremlin was “pleased” overall with the talks, but said Putin warned Biden Moscow needed a concrete “result” from upcoming security talks and warned against introducing major sanctions. “This will be a colossal mistake. We […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A 61-year-old man suspected of starting a fire at a Japanese mental health clinic that claimed 25 lives died in hospital on Thursday, local media said. Morio Tanimoto had been in critical condition due to burns and carbon monoxide poisoning following the deadly attack in Osaka on December 17. Tanimoto, a former patient of the clinic, died without being interrogated by police, public broadcaster NHK said, citing investigative sources. An Osaka […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Residents in the locked-down Chinese city of Xi’an said they were struggling to find enough food, despite Beijing insisting Thursday that there were now adequate supplies. China has followed a strict “zero Covid” approach involving tight border restrictions and swift, targeted lockdowns since the virus first surfaced in a central city in late 2019. The country’s commerce ministry told reporters on Thursday that Xi’an’s 13 million residents — who were placed […]
The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday condemned last week’s massacre in Myanmar of more than 30 people, including two Save the Children staff, that was blamed on junta troops. The killings took place on Christmas Eve in eastern Kayah state, where pro-democracy rebels have been fighting the military, which took over the government from the democratically elected administration in February. In a statement released Wednesday evening, Security Council members “stressed the need to ensure […]
A 5.7 magnitude earthquake struck off the Greek island of Crete on Wednesday, the Athens Observatory said, with no damage reported. The quake, which had a depth of 47 kilometres (29 miles), struck at 0508 GMT with an epicentre in the sea 48 kilometres southwest of Arvi, on the south coast of the island, the Observatory said. No damage was reported but Greek firefighters were dispatched to the scene as a precautionary measure. Some 10 […]
A powerful 7.3 magnitude quake struck off the coast of Indonesia’s Maluku province in the early hours of Thursday, the United States Geological Survey said in a statement. There were no immediate reports of tsunami warnings, nor casualties or damage. The offshore quake took place around 3:25 am local time (1825 GMT Wednesday) and hit at a depth of 166 kilometers (103 miles), about 120 kilometers northeast of the town of Lospalos. Indonesia experiences frequent […]
by Shaun Tandon and Sebastian Smith President Joe Biden will offer his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a diplomatic path forward on the Ukraine crisis in a telephone call Thursday, a US official said, setting the tone for security talks next month. It will be the second telephone call in less than a month between the two leaders, with Biden in early December warning Putin of “severe consequences” if Russian troops that have amassed on the […]
British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty on Wednesday of recruiting and grooming young girls to be sexually abused by the late American financier Jeffrey Epstein. Maxwell was convicted by a 12-person jury of five of the six counts she was facing including the most serious charge of sex trafficking a minor. The 60-year-old daughter of the late British press baron Robert Maxwell could potentially spend the rest of her life behind bars. Conspiracy to […]
by Kenan Augeard with AFP Bureaus A Covid variant-driven “tsunami” threatens to overwhelm healthcare systems, the WHO said Wednesday as AFP data showed cases have surged across the world in the past week to levels never seen before. Highly transmissible Omicron propelled the United States, France and Denmark to fresh records on Wednesday, with AFP’s tally of 6.55 million infections reported globally for seven days through Tuesday showing the unprecedented spread. They were the highest […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) – Novak Djokovic has pulled out of the ATP Cup in Sydney, organisers said on Wednesday, heightening doubts about his vaccination status and whether he will defend his Australian Open title. “World No.1 Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the 2022 ATP Cup. Team Serbia will now be led by world No.33 Dusan Lajovic,” organisers said in a statement ahead of Saturday’s start to the tournament. There has been intense speculation as to whether […]
JERUSALEM, Undefined (AFP) – Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas made a rare visit to Israel Tuesday for talks with Defence Minister Benny Gantz, that the defence ministry said focused on security and civil matters. Gantz told Abbas that he intended to “continue to promote actions to strengthen confidence in the economic and civilian fields, as agreed during their last meeting,” the ministry statement said. “The two men discussed security and civil matters,” it added. Israeli media […]
