Other News

US election trial judge issues partial gag order on Trump

WASHINGTON, Oct 16, 2023 (AFP) – The federal judge set to preside over Donald Trump’s trial for conspiring to overturn the 2020 US election imposed a partial gag order on the former president on Monday. US District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered Trump not to attack prosecutors, court staff or potential witnesses ahead of the historic trial scheduled to begin in Washington in March 2024. Chutkan’s ruling came after special counsel Jack Smith filed a motion […]

After China, Russia suspends Japanese seafood imports

MOSCOW, Oct 16, 2023 (AFP) – Russia on Monday followed its ally China in suspending all Japanese seafood imports over Tokyo’s release of wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. Japan has been sharply critical of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while Tokyo’s relations with Beijing — which has deepened ties with Moscow — have worsened. Rosselkhoznadzor, Russia’s body responsible for regulating agriculture products, said it was “joining China’s provisional restrictive measures on the import of […]

Israel military confirms 199 hostages abducted by Hamas

JERUSALEM, Oct 16, 2023 (AFP) – The Israeli military on Monday raised the figure to 199 people confirmed to have been abduced by Hamas to the Gaza Strip in the militants’ cross-border attacks which sparked a devastating war. “We have updated the families of 199 hostages,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari told a media briefing, revising up an earlier figure of 155 captives. Israelis and foreigners are among those abducted in the Hamas assault on October […]

DEVELOPING STORY: Murdered French teacher’s school evacuated over bomb threat: AFP

ARRAS, France, Oct 16, 2023 (AFP) – A school in northern France where a teacher was stabbed to death in an apparent Islamist attack last week was on Monday evacuated following a bomb threat, an AFP journalist said. Dozens of staff and pupils left the combined middle and high school in Arras around 10:30 am (0830 GMT). Authorities told AFP the bomb threat had been made by internet.

Israel denies reports of any ‘ceasefire’ in Gaza: PM office

JERUSALEM, Oct 16, 2023 (AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Monday denied reports of any temporary Gaza ceasefire to allow foreign nationals to flee the enclave to neighbouring Egypt. However, the army pledged to refrain from striking routes within Gaza designated for evacuating people from the enclave’s north to the south during a limited time window, from 8:00am to noon (0500 GMT to 0900 GMT). Media reports had said Israel, Egypt and […]

Former EU chief Donald Tusk claims victory in Poland election after exit poll

By Anna Maria JAKUBEK WARSAW, Oct 15, 2023 (AFP) – Former EU chief Donald Tusk, leader of the Polish opposition that is tipped to have won a majority in Sunday’s elections, is a football-mad historian with roots in the anti-communist movement. The 66-year-old former prime minister plunged back into Polish politics as head of the centrist Civic Platform party after returning from a stint in Brussels. President of the European Council until 2019, he handled […]

WHO chief urges Hamas to free hostages

GENEVA, Oct 15, 2023 (AFP) – The World Health Organization chief on Sunday urged Hamas to release all civilian hostages, as he warned that the war between Israel and the Islamist group would only bring destruction and horror. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was gravely concerned by Israeli attacks in which innocent Palestinian civilians and children were “paying the price”. The conflict “is an awful reminder of how quickly the health of millions […]

China gears up for China’s Belt and Road Initiative forum amid Israel-Gaza conflict shadow

BEIJING, Oct 16, 2023 (AFP) – China prepared on Monday to host representatives of 130 countries for a forum that will be overshadowed by the Israel-Gaza war, as an increasingly assertive Beijing is asked to help de-escalate the violence. At the top of the invite list to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) forum is Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, on his first trip to a major global power since the Ukraine invasion threw his regime […]

Skygazers watch ‘Ring of Fire’ eclipse over Western Hemisphere

By Gilles CLARENNE with Issam AHMED in Washington Skygazers across the Americas turned their faces upwards Saturday for a rare celestial event: an annular solar eclipse. A crowd of people wearing protective eyewear gathered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, one of many across the western United States watching as the Moon passed between the Sun and Earth at its furthest point from our planet. Since it is so distant, it did not cover the Sun completely, […]

Former Bank of China chairman arrested for corruption

BEIJING, Oct 16, 2023 (AFP) – The former chairman of the Bank of China has been formally arrested for suspected corruption, state media reported Monday, citing the country’s top prosecutor. The state-owned bank said in February that Liu Lian’ge, 62, had stepped down as chairman and been removed from his position as Communist Party chief. China’s top anti-corruption watchdog announced the following month that Liu was under investigation for alleged “severe violations of discipline and […]

North Korea sends military equipment to Russia for potential use in Ukraine – White House

North Korea has delivered more than 1,000 containers of military equipment and munitions to Russia in recent weeks for use in Ukraine, the White House said Friday. The statement comes a month after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un traveled to Russia’s far east and met President Vladimir Putin, sparking concern among Kyiv’s allies over the possibility of a potential arms deal. “We condemn the DPRK for providing Russia with this military equipment, which will […]