Moscow, Russia (AFP) Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday vowed to continue attacking Ukrainian energy systems despite global criticism of strikes that have left millions without electricity and water at the start of winter. “There’s a lot of noise about our strikes on the energy infrastructure of a neighbouring country. Yes, we do that. But who started it?” Putin said at an awards ceremony in the Kremlin, adding that the criticism would “not interfere with […]
Other News
Kremlin sees ‘risk’ of Ukraine attacks on Crimea
Moscow, Russia (AFP) The Kremlin said Thursday that the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula was vulnerable to Ukrainian attacks after officials said they had shot down a drone near a key naval base. The latest drone attack comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin recently visited the only bridge connecting Crimea with the Russian mainland to survey work to repair the key artery damaged in a blast Moscow blamed on Kiyv. “There are certainly risks because the Ukrainian […]
Outrage as Iran carries out first first hanging over protests
Paris, France (AFP) by Stuart WILLIAMS and David VUJANOVIC in Nicosia Iran carried out its first known execution Thursday over the protests that have shaken the regime since September, sparking international condemnation and warnings from rights groups that more hangings are imminent. Mohsen Shekari, 23, had been convicted and sentenced to death for blocking a street and wounding a paramilitary during the early phase of the protests in mid-September, after a legal process denounced […]
New York Times workers go on strike over wage dispute
New York, United States (AFP) More than 1,000 New York Times employees went on strike at midnight on Thursday in the first industrial action of its kind in more than 40 years, their union said. Journalists and other workers at the storied media outlet, often referred to as America’s paper of record, walked out for 24 hours after failing to reach an agreement with the company on a new round of contract negotiations, the union […]
Royals brace as ‘Harry & Meghan’ airs on Netflix
by Joe JACKSON Agence France-Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The first three episodes of a docuseries on Prince Harry and his wife Meghan air on Thursday, with expectations of more damaging claims about British royal family life. The six-part fly-on-the-wall documentary, “Harry and Meghan”, promises to lift the lid on events that prompted the pair to quit royal life and move to the United States in 2020. Trailers aired in the run-up to the […]
5.8-magnitude earthquake jolts Indonesia’s Java island
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) – A 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit Indonesia’s main island of Java on Thursday with no immediate reports of damage, less than a month after another quake in the same province killed more than 300 people. The quake struck at 07:50 am local time (0050 GMT) around 15 kilometers from the town of Cianjur, epicenter of November’s devastating tremor, the United States Geological Survey said. It said there was a low likelihood of casualties […]
Biodiversity crisis | Videographic
UN biodiversity talks opened in Montreal on Wednesday, in what is being billed as the “last best chance” to save the planet’s species and ecosystems from irreversible human destruction. What do all of these species have in common? They have all gone extinct due to human activities. Extinction is a natural process and, in fact, 99% of the four billion species that have existed on our planet have disappeared. It is balanced by the evolution […]
How not to retire: South Korean ex-president bedevilled by protests
by Kang Jin-kyu Agence France-Presse PYEONGSAN, South Korea (AFP) — After five years running South Korea, former president Moon Jae-in moved to a peaceful village far away from Seoul, in search of a quiet retirement. Then the protests began. Every day since his arrival in May, demonstrators in Pyeongsan village have used megaphones to shower him with vitriol over his efforts at engagement with North Korea, livestreaming their protests to hundreds of viewers. “Moon is […]
Nine dead in fresh Burkina violence: sources
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AFP) – At least nine civilians have been killed in violent attacks in northern Burkina Faso, witnesses told AFP on Wednesday. The poor, landlocked country in the heart of West Africa’s Sahel is struggling with a jihadist insurgency now in its eighth year. Thousands of civilians, police and security volunteers have died and some two million people have fled their homes. One resident near Kongoussi, the capital of Bam province, told AFP on condition […]
Shear line affecting Northern Luzon: PAGASA
Eastern sections of Visayas, Mindanao affected by trough of LPA (Eagle News) — The shear line is affecting Northern Luzon. According to the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, the trough of a Low Pressure Area (LPA) is also affecting the eastern sections of Visayas and Mindanao. Caraga, Davao Region, Northern Mindanao, SOCCSKSARGEN, Eastern Visayas, Central Visayas, Catanduanes, Albay, Masbate, and Sorsogon will have cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms as a […]
Australians angered by release of Bali bomb maker
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A survivor of the 2002 Bali bombings on Thursday said it was “laughable” to see one of the bomb makers released from an Indonesian prison after serving half his 20-year sentence. Umar Patek was a member of an Al Qaeda-linked group that detonated two bombs outside a Bali bar and nightclub in October 2002, killing 202 people — including 88 Australians. Patek was released on parole Wednesday, Indonesian authorities confirmed, despite […]
Afghan Taliban carry out first public execution since takeover
by David FOX and Estelle EMONET Agence France-Presse KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — An Afghan man convicted of murder was executed in public Wednesday, the Taliban said, the first confirmation of such a punishment since the hardline Islamists returned to power. Last month, Taliban supreme leader Hibatullah Akhundzada ordered judges to fully enforce aspects of Islamic law that include public executions, stonings and floggings, and the amputation of limbs from thieves. They have carried out several […]





