Beijing, China (AFP) by Laurie CHEN China’s ruling Communist Party will begin its 20th Party Congress on October 16, state media reported Tuesday, a landmark meeting at which President Xi Jinping is expected to be anointed as the country’s most powerful leader in decades. The meeting in the capital Beijing is widely expected to see Xi reinstated as president for an unprecedented third term. It will also see the unveiling of a new top leadership […]
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Ukraine students brace for underground school year
Kyiv, Ukraine (AFP) by Anna KORIAGINA Five metres beneath a Kyiv classroom, headmaster Mykhaylo Aliokhin puts the finishing touches on the bunker where his students will spend much of their time once Ukraine’s school term starts later this week. The study hall above is still littered with school bags abandoned since February 23 — the last day before Russia invaded and school bells fell silent, replaced by the skirl of the air raid siren. Down […]
Fighting across southern front as Ukraine wages counter-offensive
Mykolaiv, Ukraine (AFP) by Thibault MARCHAND Intense fighting was raging on Tuesday across the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson occupied by Russia, Kyiv’s presidency said, as its troops pressed counter-offensives “in various directions”. Most of the region of Kherson bordering the Black Sea — and its provincial capital of the same name — were seized by Moscow’s military at the start of the invasion six months ago. With the war in the eastern Donbas […]
Rapper stabbed to death as London’s Notting Hill Carnival returns
London, United Kingdom (AFP) London’s Notting Hill Carnival was marred by the murder of a young rapper and hundreds of arrests, police said on Tuesday. The 21-year-old man died after being stabbed on Monday, the latest in a wave of knife-crime incidents in the British capital this year that have sparked growing concern. The victim was later identified as a rapper from Bristol, western England, who performed under the name TKorStretch. “He came from Bristol […]
Solomon Islands suspends all naval visits
Honiara, Solomon Islands (AFP) Solomon Islands has suspended visits from all foreign navies, citing a need to review approval processes, the country’s leader said Tuesday, after a US coast guard was unable to refuel at its port. The decision comes amid concerns over the Solomons’ growing ties with China in recent years, switching diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 2019 and signing a security pact with the Asian power in April. Western governments are […]
Monkeypox going ‘in right direction’ in Europe: WHO
Copenhagen, Denmark (AFP) The World Health Organization said Tuesday it saw “encouraging” signs the monkeypox epidemic was slowing in Europe and heading “in the right direction”, calling on countries to double down on efforts. “There are encouraging early signs, as evidenced in France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, the UK, and other countries, that the outbreak may be slowing”, the WHO regional director for Europe, Hans Kluge, told reporters. “It’s going in the right direction”, he […]
UN appeals for $160 mn to help worst hit in Pakistan floods
Geneva, Switzerland (AFP) The United Nations and the Pakistani government launched an emergency appeal for $160 million on Tuesday to help those hardest hit by the devastating floods in the country. The funds will provide 5.2 million people with food, water, sanitation, emergency education, protection and health support, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a video statement, calling the flooding a “colossal crisis”. The aid, covering the initial six months of the crisis response, will […]
Engine issue forces NASA to scrub launch of giant Moon rocket
by Lucie AUBOURG (AFP) NASA called off a test flight on Monday of its largest-ever rocket in a setback to the ambitious program to send humans back to the Moon and eventually to Mars. “We don’t launch until it’s right,” NASA administrator Bill Nelson said after an engine temperature issue forced liftoff from Kennedy Space Center to be scrubbed. “This is a very complicated machine,” Nelson said. “You don’t want to light the candle until […]
Filipinos in Libya urged to stay home as deadly clashes kill 32
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Sunday night urged Filipinos in Libya to take shelter at home as deadly clashes in the capital killed 32. In a text message to reporters, DFA spokesperson Ma. Teresita Daza said no Filipino has been reported among the casualties. “The DFA strongly urges our kababayans to take shelter at home or in other safe places while the fighting is ongoing and to contact our Embassy through its hotline […]
Kremlin urges ‘pressure’ on Ukraine over nuclear plant
Moscow, Russia (AFP) The Kremlin on Monday called for “pressure” on Kyiv to reduce tensions at the Moscow-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in southeastern Ukraine that Moscow and Kyiv accuse each other of shelling. “All countries are obliged to put pressure on the Ukrainian side so that it stops endangering the European continent by shelling” the nuclear plant, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. His remarks came as International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi announced […]
UPDATE: Fire extinguished on ferry off Sweden with 300 aboard
Stockholm, Sweden (AFP) A fire that broke out on a car ferry carrying 300 people off Sweden’s coast on Monday has been extinguished and the ship will be towed to port, Swedish maritime authorities said. The blaze appeared to have started on a refrigeration lorry on the car deck of the Stena Scandica, which was sailing from Sweden to Latvia. “The fire is out,” Swedish Maritime Administration spokeswoman Lisa Mjorning told AFP. “The ferry […]
Heatwave-hit Chinese province resumes power to factories
Beijing, China (AFP) The southwestern Chinese province of Sichuan downgraded emergency energy supply measures on Monday, restoring power to some factories after weeks of rolling blackouts due to a heatwave-induced shortage. Parts of Sichuan province and neighbouring Chongqing saw rainfall and lower temperatures beginning Sunday, after weeks of record temperatures higher than 40 Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) and a crippling drought that strained hydropower generators throughout the region. “Reservoir water levels are gradually increasing and the […]





