Kenyan train drivers learn operating procedures from their Chinese instructor during training in Nairobi on May 17, 2017, before the start of the Mombasa-Nairobi standard gauge railway. (PHOTO / XINHUA) Editor's note: This year marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative. A decade of practice has demonstrated that it's a broad and prosperous way for China and the world …
FAO: Horn of Africa grappling with effects of drought, floods
This aerial view shows makeshift structures of people displaced by drought at the Ladan internally displaced people camp in Dolow on May 1, 2023. More than a million Somalis have been displaced within their own country due to a "toxic" mix of drought, conflict and floods in a record four months, the UN and a charity said on May 24, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP) NAIROBI …
Study: Climate change slowing Antarctic deep sea current
This file photo taken on Feb 15, 2019 shows penguins on an iceberg in Antarctica. (PHOTO / XINHUA) CANBERRA – Deep ocean currents around parts of Antarctica are slowing down decades earlier than expected as a result of climate change, an Australian research has revealed. In a study published on Friday, a team from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) and Australian Center …
Russia expels five Swedish diplomats in retaliatory move
A view of the Swedish embassy in Moscow on May 25, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP) MOSCOW – Russia has declared five diplomats working at the Swedish Embassy in Moscow persona non grata in a tit-for-tat-move, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Thursday. The ambassador of Sweden Malena Mard was summoned to the ministry, and was notified that Moscow had decided to expel five Swedish diplomats, including …
Putin: Decentralized financial system benefits global economy
This file photo shows Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with the Presidential Council for the Local Self-Government Development via a video conference at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence, outside Moscow, on April 20, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP) MOSCOW – A shift towards a decentralized international financial system will be beneficial for the global economy, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday. Speaking at the …
Florida Governor DeSantis launches 2024 presidential bid
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks during an event on his nationwide book tour at Adventure Outdoors, the largest gun store in the country, on March 30, 2023 in Smyrna, Georgia. (PHOTO / AFP) WASHINGTON – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Wednesday announced his entry into the 2024 US presidential race, vowing to lead a "Great American Comeback." DeSantis is considered the top challenger in the …
German police conduct major raid on climate activists
Protesters including Marion Fabian (2nd, left) and Aimee van Baalen (center), spokesperson of the Last Generation group hold a banner during a march in Berlin on May 24, 2023 following morning raids by police on their activists. (PHOTO / AFP) BERLIN – German police have conducted a nationwide raid targeting members of climate activist group Last Generation on suspicion of forming or supporting a criminal …
Russia: Will respond promptly, harshly to future incursions
In this handout photo taken from video released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu speaks in televised remarks in Moscow, September, 21, 2022. (PHOTO / RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY PRESS SERVICE / AP) MOSCOW – Russia will respond quickly and extremely harshly to future incursions, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said at a meeting with senior defense officials on Wednesday. The …
Kenya set to become Africa’s high-tech hub
Ambitious project to expand country's IT sector as it woos Chinese investors Visitors tour the 400-kV Konza substation in Konza, Kenya. (XIE SONGXIN / CHINA DAILY) Konza Technopolis is courting Chinese investors, as the key project of Kenya's national development plan Vision 2030 is in its final stages of completion in the first phase. Anna Wafula, manager of business development and innovation of the Konza …
2nd general election for Greece after coalition attempts fail
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (right), Greek Solution party leader Kyriakos Velopoulos (center) and Alexis Tsipras (left), leader of Syriza party, leave the presidental palace after meeting with Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou in Athens on May 24, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP) ATHENS – Greece is heading for a second general election this summer, after attempts to form a government coalition failed on Wednesday. The ruling …
Student lit deadly fire at Guyana school after phone confiscated
Investigators and government employees inspect the school dormitory where a fire killed at least 19 people in Mahdia, Guyana on May 22, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP) GEORGETOWN – A fire in a school dormitory in Guyana that killed 19 children was lit by a student after school authorities confiscated her cell phone, police said on Tuesday. The children, mostly Indigenous girls, died around midnight on …
Texas sues Biden goverment over new asylum rule
Migrants wait in along the border wall to board a bus after surrendering to US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Border Patrol agents for immigration and asylum claim processing following the end of Title 42 on the US-Mexico border in El Paso, Texas on May 12, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP) HOUSTON — The south central US state Texas on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the …
Russian fighter escorts US bombers over Baltic Sea
This undated photo shows a Su-27 fighter. (RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY / HANDOUT VIA XINHUA) MOSCOW — A Russian fighter jet was scrambled on Tuesday to accompany two US strategic bombers over the Baltic Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry said. Russian airspace control detected two targets approaching the Russian state border over the Baltic Sea and a Su-27 fighter took off in response, the ministry said …
Poll: Gun violence soars in US as public health concern
People protest against gun violence outside of the Cotton wood Creek Baptist Church on May 7, 2023 in Allen, Texas, United States. (PHOTO / AFP) NEW YORK – Gun violence has surged ahead of the opioid crisis as Americans' top public health concern, according to the latest edition of the Axios-Ipsos American Health Index. A spate of recent mass shootings may have focused attention on …
Gun violence soars in US as public health concern: poll
People protest against gun violence outside of the Cotton wood Creek Baptist Church on May 7, 2023 in Allen, Texas, United States. (PHOTO / AFP) NEW YORK – Gun violence has surged ahead of the opioid crisis as Americans' top public health concern, according to the latest edition of the Axios-Ipsos American Health Index. A spate of recent mass shootings may have focused attention on …
FAO: Public investment in agri-food systems up 22% in 2022
The logo of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) agency of the United Nations is pictured within a plenary assembly for the election of the new FAO Director-General on June 23, 2019 at the FAO headquarters in Rome. (PHOTO / AFP) ROME – Public investment in sustainable agriculture rose by more than a fifth last year, according to the 2022 Annual …
Italy govt approves $2.2b aid package for flood-hit region
A photo taken on May 21, 2023 in Sant'Agata sul Santerno, near Ravenna, shows a collapsed railway bridge after floodwaters hit the Emilia-Romagna region. (PHOTO / AFP) ROME – Italy's Council of Ministers on Tuesday approved a wide-ranging emergency aid package to help victims of severe floods in the Emilia-Romagna region. The package, passed a week after unprecedented rainfall in the region, is worth more …
Consensus on debt ceiling still elusive
Default will have serious repercussions on US and global markets, experts warn A poster at a bus shelter shows the national debt in Washington on Sunday. (PHOTO / AFP) WASHINGTON — The United States is "highly likely" to default on government obligations by early June, said US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Monday as experts warned of severe consequences resulting from the debt ceiling drama. …
UN calls for efforts to protect civilians caught in conflict
UN secretary General Antonio Guterres addresses the media during a visit to the UN office in the capital Nairobi, Kenya, May 3, 2023. (PHOTO / AP) UNITED NATIONS – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday urged upholding promise to protect civilians caught in conflict. "Civilians have suffered the deadly effects of armed conflict for too long. It is time we live up to our promise …
Venezuela rejects US questioning of its anti-terror commitment
People raise a new Venezuelan flag on the dome of the Federal Legislative Palace before a session for the installation of the National Parliament for the legislative period 2023-2024 at the Federal Legislative Palace in Caracas, on Jan 5, 2023. (FEDERICO PARRA / AFP) CARACAS – The Venezuelan government on Tuesday repudiated US questioning of its commitment to the fight against terrorism. In a statement, …