Tag: politics

Denmark aims for all domestic flights to be green by 2030

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AFP) – Denmark’s government has set an ambitious target of making all Danish domestic flights green by 2030, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Saturday. “Will it be difficult? Yes. Can it be done? Yes, I think so. We’re already on it. Talented researchers and businesses are working on solutions,” Frederiksen said in her New Year’s Day address to the nation. “If we succeed, it will be a green breakthrough. Not just for Denmark, […]

Biden told Ukraine leader US will ‘respond decisively’ if Russia invades

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – US President Joe Biden told his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in telephone talks on Sunday that Washington and its allies would “respond decisively” if Russia moves to invade its pro-Western neighbor, the White House said. In a readout of the Biden-Zelensky call, White House press secretary Jen Psaki also said the US leader expressed support for diplomatic efforts including planned talks between high-level US and Russian officials set for […]

Biden and Putin trade warnings over Ukraine, but vow diplomacy

by Sebastian Smith with Anna Smolchenko in Moscow WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Joe Biden on Thursday warned his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of a tough US response to any invasion of Ukraine, while the Kremlin leader said anti-Moscow sanctions would be a “colossal mistake.” After a 50 minute phone call — their second in just over three weeks — both presidents indicated support for further diplomacy on the tense standoff between Russia and […]

UN Security Council condemns Myanmar massacre

The United Nations Security Council on Wednesday condemned last week’s massacre in Myanmar of more than 30 people, including two Save the Children staff, that was blamed on junta troops. The killings took place on Christmas Eve in eastern Kayah state, where pro-democracy rebels have been fighting the military, which took over the government from the democratically elected administration in February. In a statement released Wednesday evening, Security Council members “stressed the need to ensure […]

Biden to offer ‘diplomatic path’ to Putin in new Ukraine crisis call

by Shaun Tandon and Sebastian Smith President Joe Biden will offer his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a diplomatic path forward on the Ukraine crisis in a telephone call Thursday, a US official said, setting the tone for security talks next month. It will be the second telephone call in less than a month between the two leaders, with Biden in early December warning Putin of “severe consequences” if Russian troops that have amassed on the […]

Six arrested in Hong Kong over ‘seditious publication’

  Hong Kong authorities arrested six current and former staff of local news outlet Stand News on Wednesday on colonial-era charges of “seditious publication”, amid international alarm about the city’s press freedoms. Police said more than 200 uniformed and plainclothes police were deployed to search the publication’s office in the Kwun Tong district. An AFP reporter saw Stand News editor-in-chief Patrick Lam being led into the news outlet’s office building in handcuffs. Stand News is […]

Former US Senate leader Harry Reid dies at 82

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – Former US Senate majority leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada who rose from humble beginnings to lead the upper chamber during the presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, has died at the age of 82, officials said Tuesday. Reid, who used his experience in Congress to help Obama steer his landmark Affordable Care Act through the Senate, had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2018. Laconic […]

End of an era nears for Berlin’s coal stoves

by Raphaelle LOGEROT Agence France-Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) – Alban Nikolai Herbst’s Berlin apartment is covered in dust, his precious record collection included, thanks to a coal-powered stove he still uses to heat his home like thousands across the city. Germany’s new government is set to extinguish the at-home heat source from a bygone era as part of its ambitious climate plans, as it looks to cut harmful emissions linked to climate change. But Herbst […]

Malaysian ex-PM Mahathir admitted to hospital

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, 96, was admitted to hospital Thursday and will undergo a full medical check-up, the medical facility said. The National Heart Institute said Mahathir arrived at 7:00 pm (1100 GMT) and is expected to stay there for the next few days. It did not say why he had been admitted and his aides declined to give further details. Mahathir has had heart problems in the […]

Vulnerable to climate change, New York constructs seawall

by Ana FERNANDEZ Agence France-Presse After major storms highlighted New York’s weaknesses in the face of climate change, the city is erecting a $1.45-billion system of walls and floodgates to protect it from rising sea levels. Superstorm Sandy in 2012 was the trigger for establishing the East Coast Resiliency Project (ESCR), running 2.5 miles (four kilometers) along the shoreline of Lower Manhattan. Hurricane Ida, which ravaged parts of the city this year, added further urgency. […]

Severe weather ‘new normal,’ US emergency chief warns after tornadoes

WASHINGTON D.C., United States (AFP) – More powerful, destructive, and deadlier storms will be the “new normal” as the effects of climate change take root, the top US emergency management official said Sunday after massive tornadoes ravaged six states. Meteorologists and other scientists have long warned of the growing intensity of weather events like storms, fires and flooding. But the crisis hit home in a terrifying way overnight Friday into Saturday when more than two […]

Wildlife concerns blunt Germany’s green power efforts

by Florian CAZERES Agence France-Presse CHORIN, Germany (AFP) – Germany is expanding its power grid to aid the transition to renewable energies, but local residents in some areas are holding up the process over concerns about wildlife. “I am not saying that the energy transition is not necessary. But we don’t want these pylons,” Hartmut Lindner, 75, told AFP. Lindner has been campaigning for 15 years against a planned high-voltage power line in the Schorfheide-Chorin […]