In this file photo dated May 5, 2022, members of a community patrol try to force their way into a house where drugs are allegedly sold in Pimville, Soweto. Daily community patrols have increased their presence in the area in the recent months due to rising crime, mostly drug related, in the community. (GUILLEM SARTORIO / AFP) CAPE TOWN – At least 14 people were …
Islamic State claims responsibility for attack in DR Congo
In this file photo dated July 1, 2021, a general view of a burnt house in Rwangoma, Beni, Democratic Republic of Congo after ten people were killed in an attack overnight by suspected members of the Allied Democratic Forces Islamist militia. (SEBASTIEN KITSA MUSAYI / AFP) CAIRO – Islamic State claimed responsibility for an attack on Thursday that targeted the town of Lume in eastern …
Candidates to replace Boris Johnson jostle in packed race
A handout photograph released by the UK Parliament shows Britain's outgoing health secretary Sajid Javid (center, 2nd back row) making a statement after the weekly session of Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) at the House of Commons in London on July 6, 2022. (JESSICA TAYLOR / UK PARLIAMENT / AFP) LONDON – The contest to replace British Prime Minister Boris Johnson gathered pace on Sunday as five …
Argentine anti-govt protests build as president calls for unity
Members of social organizations and leftist groups protest against the agreement of the government of Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez with the International Monetary Fund, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on July 9, 2022. (LUIS ROBAYO / AFP) BUENOS AIRES – Argentine President called for unity on Saturday as protesters marched in the capital to the gates of the presidential palace, lambasting his government over soaring inflation …
Russia navy receives 1st sub with nuclear-powered drones
Russian Navy boat of the Black Sea Fleet patrols an aria of the Mariupol Sea Port in Mariupol on May 30, 2022. (PHOTO / AP) MOSCOW – The Russian navy on Friday received the first submarine Belgorod which is designed to carry Poseidon nuclear-powered underwater drones. ALSO READ: Putin: Peace negotiations with Ukraine to get more difficult The submarine opens new opportunities for Russia to implement …
France’s COVID-19 deaths top 150,000
A man gets tested with an antigenic test for COVID-19 in Paris on July 6, 2022. (ALAIN JOCARD / AFP) BOGOTA / PRAGUE / LUSAKA / PARIS / LOS ANGELES / LISBON – The total number of COVID-19 related deaths in France passed the 150,000 mark on Friday, after 74 deaths related to the virus were recorded in hospitals in the past 24 hours, announced the country's public health agency. …
Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon hits record for first half of 2022
In this Nov 25, 2019 file photo, highway BR-163 stretches between the Tapajos National Forest, left, and a soy field in Belterra, Para state, Brazil. (LEO CORREA / AP) MANAUS, Brazil – Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest reached a record high for the first six months of the year, as an area five times the size of New York City was destroyed, preliminary government data …
Colombia enters 5th wave of COVID-19 pandemic
A nurse vaccinates a person against COVID-19 at the Francisco de Paula Santander International Bridge in Cucuta, Colombia, on the border with Venezuela, on March 11, 2022. (SCHNEYDER MENDOZA / AFP) BOGOTA / PRAGUE / LUSAKA / PARIS / LOS ANGELES / LISBON – Colombia has entered the fifth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, so citizens should reinforce self-care measures and get vaccinated against the virus, Minister of Health and …
Defense chief: 1 million people defending Ukraine
A cleanup crew prepares to work at the site of an explosion in Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 29. (EMILIO MORENATTI / AP) KYIV – Ukraine's Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Friday that about 1 million people are participating in defending Ukraine, the government-run Ukrinform news agency reported. Some 700,000 soldiers of Ukraine's Armed Forces, 100,000 officers of the National Police, 90,000 members of the National …
Biden signs executive order on abortion
US President Joe Biden attends an event on fighting "ghost guns" crimes at the White House in Washington, DC April 11, 2022. (PHOTO/XINHUA) WASHINGTON – US President Joe Biden said the Supreme Court decision overturning the right to an abortion was an exercise in "raw political power" and signed an executive order on Friday to ease access to services to terminate pregnancies. Biden, a Democrat, …
Contest to replace UK PM Johnson begins
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves from 10 Downing Street in central London on July 6, 2022 to head to the Houses of Parliament for the weekly Prime Minister's Questions session. (JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP) LONDON – As many as a dozen candidates were on Friday eyeing up replacing Boris Johnson as British prime minister who is quitting after his Conservative Party turned on him, …
Minneapolis ex-cop Chauvin gets 21 years in prison
Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin addresses the court as Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill presides over Chauvin's sentencing at the Hennepin County Courthouse in Minneapolis, June 25, 2021. (COURT TV VIA AP / POOL / FILE) Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, convicted last year of murdering George Floyd, was sentenced on Thursday to 21 years in prison on separate federal charges of violating …
New COVID-19 wave seen in many EU countries
A man gets tested with an antigenic test for COVID-19 in Paris on July 6, 2022. (ALAIN JOCARD / AFP) GENEVA / STOCKHOLM / JOHANNESBURG / LONDON / OTTAWA / THE HAGUE / CAIRO / BOGOTA – Europe is facing a new wave of COVID-19 driven by the highly-transmissible BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants of Omicron, said the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Thursday. "We see a new wave of COVID-19 in many …
EU urged to include abortion in Charter of Fundamental Rights
European lawmakers gather to vote at the European Parliament on July 6, 2022 in Strasbourg, eastern France. (JEAN-FRANCOIS BADIAS / AP PHOTO) BRUSSELS – Members of the European Parliament on Thursday voted in favor of a resolution to add the right to abortion to the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, condemning the recent US Supreme Court's decision. Members of the European Parliament also asked the …
Putin: Peace negotiations with Ukraine to get more difficult
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to members of the State Duma and the Federal Assembly of The Russian Federation in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on July 7, 2022. (ALEXEI NIKOLSKY / SPUTNIK / KREMLIN POOL PHOTO VIA AP) MOSCOW – Russia is open to peace talks, and the negotiations with Ukraine will get more difficult with time passing by, Russian President Vladimir Putin said …
After scandals, Boris Johnson quits as UK prime minister
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson makes a statement in front of 10 Downing Street in central London on July 7, 2022. Johnson quit as Conservative party leader, after three tumultuous years in charge marked by Brexit, COVID-19 and mounting scandals. (JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP) Scandal-ridden Boris Johnson announced on Thursday he would quit as British prime minister after he dramatically lost the support of his ministers …
UNDP: Cost-of-living crisis driving surge in extreme poverty
Homeless people receive food at Sao Martinho de Lima Community Center, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on May 30, 2022. (FILIPE ARAUJO / AFP) LONDON – The global cost-of-living crisis is pushing an additional 71 million people in the world's poorest countries into extreme poverty, a new report published by the UN Development Programme on Thursday has warned. Achim Steiner, UNDP administrator, said an analysis of …
EU presidency to focus on effects of Russia-Ukraine conflict
Ukrainian journalists walk in the yard of National Pedagogic university destroyed by a Russian attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, July 6, 2022. (EVGENIY MALOLETKA / AP) BRUSSELS/KYIV – Managing the consequences of the Russia-Ukraine conflict will top the list of priorities of the Czech Republic, which took over the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union on July 1, Czech prime minister said …
DRC, Rwanda agree to de-escalate tensions
A Congolese army tank heads towards the front line near Kibumba in the area surrounding the North Kivu city of Goma on May 25, 2022 during clashes between the Congolese army and M23 rebels. (ARLETTE BASHIZI / AFP) KINSHASA – President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, on Wednesday agreed on a de-escalation process after the …
WHO: Over 6k monkeypox cases reported, emergency meeting set
World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus delivers a speech on the opening day of 75th World Health Assembly of the World Health Organisation in Geneva on May 22, 2022. (JEAN-GUY PYTHON / AFP) LONDON – More than 6,000 cases of monkeypox have now been reported from 58 countries in the current outbreak, the World Health Organization said. The fatality rate in previous outbreaks in …