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Edinburgh, United Kingdom | AFP | Calls mounted within the Scottish National Party (SNP) on Thursday to postpone a special conference aimed at reviving its push for independence, after the surprise resignation of leader Nicola Sturgeon. After more than eight eventful years as Scotland’s first minister and SNP leader, Sturgeon said on Wednesday she lacked the “energy” to carry on and would step down. The party’s executive was to meet late on Thursday to set the […]
Houston, United States | AFP | Attorneys for a death row inmate who gouged out his own eyes after murdering his wife, son and stepdaughter in Texas asked authorities on Wednesday for clemency because he is mentally ill. Andre Thomas, 39, was convicted of killing his family in 2004. His lawyer Maurie Levin told a press conference he was “one of the most mentally ill prisoners in Texas history.” “If ever there was a case […]
Colombo, Sri Lanka | AFP | Thursday 2/16/2023 Sri Lanka’s electricity board hiked consumer rates by up to 275 percent, officials said Thursday, the second steep increase in months as the bankrupt island nation works to secure an IMF bailout. An unprecedented financial crisis last year saw Sri Lanka’s 22 million people suffer through months of food and fuel shortages, along with lengthy power cuts. The government defaulted on its $46 billion foreign debt and […]
Boulogne-Billancourt, France | AFP | Thursday 2/16/2023 French automaker Renault said Thursday it boosted manufacturing profitability in 2022 but the sale of its operations in Russia pushed the company into a net loss. Renault expanded its operating profit margin to 5.6 percent of sales in 2022 and aims to increase it to at least 6.0 percent this year. Meanwhile sales rose by 11.4 percent to 46.4 billion euros ($49.7 billion). “2022 has more than kept […]
Los Angeles, United States | AFP | Thursday 2/16/2023 – 02:10 UTC+1 | 312 words Basketball great Michael Jordan will make a record-breaking $10 million donation to the Make-A-Wish foundation to mark his 60th birthday later this week, a statement said on Wednesday. Jordan’s donation to Make-A-Wish — which aims to fulfill the wishes of children aged between 2-18 battling critical illness – is the largest in the Arizona-based nonprofit’s 43-year history. The six-time NBA […]
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | Key Dutch semiconductor tech supplier ASML said Wednesday it was probing the embezzlement of confidential information about protected technology by a former employee in China. ASML, which is one of the world’s leading makers of machines that help make microchips, however added that the leak was “not material” to its business. “ASML recently discovered misappropriation of confidential information by a (now) former employee in China relating to its […]
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Microsoft’s fledgling Bing chatbot can go off the rails at times, denying obvious facts and chiding users, according to exchanges being shared online by developers testing the AI creation. A forum at Reddit devoted to the artificial intelligence-enhanced version of the Bing search engine was rife on Wednesday with tales of being scolded, lied to, or blatantly confused in conversation-style exchanges with the bot. The Bing chatbot was […]
Kiev, Ukraine | AFP | Thursday 2/16/2023 Ukraine on Thursday reported a new wave of overnight Russian missile and drone strikes, which killed at least one and damaged many buildings. The Ukrainian army said it shot down 16 of the 36 missiles Russia launched overnight from planes and ships in the Black Sea. “Unfortunately, there were hits in the north and west of Ukraine, as well as in the (central regions of) Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovograd,” […]
Los Angeles, United States | AFP | by Andrew MARSZAL Raquel Welch, the US actress who became an international sex symbol after appearing in a deerskin bikini in “One Million Years BC,” died Wednesday, her manager said. She was 82. Welch “passed away peacefully” after “a brief illness,” her manager said in an emailed statement to AFP, without providing further details. The Golden Globe winner starred in more than 30 films — including “Fantastic Voyage” […]
Washington, United States | AFP | by Sebastian Smith The White House sought Tuesday to take the air out of an escalating diplomatic crisis with Beijing, saying that preliminary evidence suggests three unidentified aerial objects shot down by US jets were not involved in a broader Chinese spy balloon program. The United States has been in a state of alarm since a huge white balloon from China was spotted tracking over a series of […]
Washington, United States | AFP | It was more “oops” than “Top Gun” when a US fighter pilot roared up to fire a nearly half-million-dollar Sidewinder missile at a mysterious unarmed object in the sky over Lake Huron — and missed. US officials admit the would-be ace needed a second shot with one of the air-to-air missiles, which cost at least $400,000 a pop, when engaging the unidentified aerial object from an F-16 fighter Sunday […]
Kiev, Ukraine | AFP | Ukraine said Wednesday its aerial defence units had detected half a dozen balloons, apparently launched by Russia, over the capital Kyiv and shot most of them down. Kyiv authorities said the balloons could carry reconnaissance equipment and were launched to “detect and exhaust our air defence forces.” “Most of the probes have been shot down,” the city administration said in a statement, adding authorities would carefully examine the debris. […]
