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WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — South Korean President Moon Jae-in urged Joe Biden to open up talks with North Korea on its nuclear weapons and build on the ground-breaking talks his predecessor Donald Trump held with Pyongyang. In an interview with the New York Times published Wednesday, Moon suggested the US president needed to engage directly with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and not consign denuclearization talks to lower-level officials haggling over preliminary details. Moon […]
ROME, Italy (AFP) — The Italian government said Wednesday it plans to gradually lift Covid-19 restrictions from next week, with restaurants and movie theatres set to reopen. Authorities said restaurants will be allowed to serve patrons outdoors from Monday, but only in yellow zone areas where the risk of contagion is deemed low. Cinemas, theatres and concert halls can also reopen the same day with 50 percent capacity. Schools and universities will be allowed to […]
QUETTA, Pakistan (AFP) — At least four people were killed and a dozen others wounded when a bomb exploded at a top hotel hosting the Chinese ambassador in southwestern Pakistan, officials said late Wednesday. The blast took place in the car park of the Serena — a luxury hotel chain throughout Pakistan — in the city of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan province where the military has been fighting a decade-long low level insurgency. “At […]
YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — The Myanmar military junta’s crackdown on anti-coup protesters has displaced close to a quarter of a million people, a United Nations rights envoy said Wednesday. The military has stepped up its use of lethal force to quash mass demonstrations against a February 1 coup which ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi. At least 738 people have been killed and 3,300 are languishing in jails as political prisoners, according to a […]
BAB AL-HAWA, Syria (AFP) — A first batch of Covid-19 vaccine doses was expected to arrive Wednesday in war-torn northwestern Syria, where millions of people live in dire humanitarian conditions, a UN official said. The 53,800 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were dispatched to the rebel-dominated region as part of the Covax facility, which ensures the world’s poorest economies get access to jabs for free. “Once the vaccines arrive, we are prepared to start vaccination […]
BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Germany’s defense ministry on Wednesday said it planned to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan in early July, after the United States announced plans to pull out by September 11. “The current thinking… is to shorten the withdrawal period. A withdrawal date of July 4 is being considered,” a ministry spokesman told AFP, stressing that the final decision would be made by NATO. NATO had agreed last week to begin their troop […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — President Vladimir Putin, whose United Russia party is deeply unpopular ahead of September elections, said Wednesday that the government’s main task was to boost Russians’ falling personal incomes. Putin’s popularity has long been based on his ability to provide stability and better living standards to Russians, but the economy has in recent years been hit by Western sanctions, stagnant oil prices and now the coronavirus pandemic. “The main thing is to […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday vowed that Russia, one of the world’s oil and gas producing giants, would do its part to fight climate change and develop carbon recycling. “We must respond to the challenges of climate change, create a carbon recycling industry,” Putin said in his annual state of the nation address. © Agence France-Presse
HELSINKI, Finland (AFP) — Finland could start lifting coronavirus curbs on businesses and youth activities from next week but borders will stay closed to tourists for at least the coming months, ministers said on Wednesday after agreeing an “exit plan”. A decision to lift the state of emergency, which allows the government to shut businesses and restrict movement, could be made next week “if the situation continues improving,” Prime Minister Sanna Marin told a press […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — France plans to lift travel restrictions and ease a nationwide curfew on May 2 on expectations that daily Covid-19 cases will soon begin falling, a source close to the presidency told AFP. President Emmanuel Macron also intends to stick to a goal of allowing restaurants to serve patrons outdoors from mid-May, while also reopening cinemas, theatres and museums with reduced capacity, the source said. Non-food businesses will also open their doors […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia is aiming for herd immunity against the coronavirus by the autumn and hailed his country’s development of three vaccines. “Vaccination is now of paramount importance… to allow herd immunity to develop in the fall,” Putin said during his annual state of the nation address. “Our scientists have made a real breakthrough. Now Russia has three reliable vaccines against the coronavirus,” he added. The […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s President Xi Jinping will attend a virtual climate summit this week hosted by US President Joe Biden, the Chinese foreign ministry said Wednesday, as political tensions between the two countries remain high. Biden has invited 40 world leaders including Xi and Russia’s Vladimir Putin to the meet starting on Earth Day, meant to mark Washington’s return to the front lines of the fight against climate change after former president Donald […]
