Saudi woman to spend 34 yrs in jail for using Twitter

A Saudi court has sentenced a woman to 34 years in prison over her Twitter activity, according to court documents seen by AFP yesterday.
17 August 2022

Violent storms hammer France after weeks of drought

The French weather service yesterday warned of flash flooding risks across much of the south, where a historic drought has parched the rugged Mediterranean hills, a day after fierce rainstorms lashed much of the country.
17 August 2022

Series of blows in crimea: Russia shakes up Black Sea fleet command

Russia’s Black Sea fleet based in annexed Crimea has installed a new commander, RIA news agency cited sources as saying yesterday, after Russian military bases on the peninsula were rocked by explosions in the past nine days.
17 August 2022

Elon Musk says he was joking about buying Manchester United

Elon Musk, the world's richest person, tweeted on Wednesday that he was joking when he said that he was going to buy English soccer club Manchester United Plc MANU.N.
17 August 2022

Zimbabwe measles outbreak kills 157 children

A measles outbreak in Zimbabwe has killed 157 children with the death toll nearly doubling in just under a week, the information minister said on Tuesday.
17 August 2022

Elon Musk now says he is buying Manchester United

Elon Musk, the world's richest person, on Tuesday tweeted that he was buying football club Manchester United Plc (MANU.N), without offering any details.
17 August 2022

Historic oscars abuse: Academy apologises to indigenous star

Nearly 50 years after she was booed off the Oscars stage for declining Marlon Brando’s award on his behalf in protest at the film industry’s treatment of Native Americans, Sacheen Littlefeather has received an apology from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the group said Monday.
16 August 2022

Assange lawyers sue CIA for spying

Lawyers for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange sued the US Central Intelligence Agency and its former director Mike Pompeo on Monday, alleging it recorded their conversations and copied data from their phones and computers.
16 August 2022

Simon Stiell named UN climate chief

Grenada’s former environment minister Simon Stiell was named Monday as the new UN Climate Change chief, replacing Patricia Espinosa of Mexico, the UN secretary-general’s office said.
16 August 2022

Iran sends response

The European Union yesterday said it was studying Iran’s response to a “final” draft agreement on reviving a 2015 nuclear accord with major powers it presented at talks in Vienna.
16 August 2022

Karl Thomas

It’s very important that we contest this type of thing. I know that the gorilla in the room is launching missiles over Taiwan. If we just allow that to happen, and we don’t contest that, that’ll be the next norm. It’s irresponsible to launch missiles over Taiwan into international waters, where the shipping lanes, where free shipping operates.
16 August 2022

US ‘sowing chaos in the world’

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday accused Washington of seeking to prolong the conflict in Ukraine and of fuelling conflicts elsewhere in the world, including with the visit of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan.
16 August 2022

Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed goes incognito in London tube

Dubai Crown Prince Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum who is pretty active on social media, has gone viral after photos of him travelling with his friend in the London tube (metro) goes viral.
16 August 2022

China sanctions 7 Taiwanese officials for “supporting independence”

China imposed sanctions on Tuesday on seven Taiwanese officials and lawmakers it accused of being "independence diehards", including banning them from entering, in its latest angry reproach of the democratically governed island.
16 August 2022

Drones attack Syrian base of US-led coalition

Drones attacked a Syrian outpost of the US-led anti-jihadist coalition yesterday but there were no injuries, the coalition said.
15 August 2022

Australia’s ex-PM held ‘secret roles’

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has sought legal advice following reports that his predecessor Scott Morrison secretly held key
15 August 2022

Israeli forces kill Palestinian

Israeli security forces shot dead a Palestinian man they said had tried to stab officers during a home raid to locate weapons in east Jerusalem
15 August 2022

Rushdie Stabbing: Iran denies link with attacker

Iran yesterday denied any link with the attacker of British author Salman Rushdie but blamed the writer himself for “insulting” Islam in the novel “The Satanic Verses”.
15 August 2022

Armour-plated small dinosaur unearthed

Paleontologists heralded the discovery of a previously unknown small armored dinosaur in southern Argentina, a creature that likely walked upright on its back legs roaming a then-steamy landscape about 100 million years ago.
15 August 2022

Anger flares at slow response to deadly Cairo church fire

Egyptians voiced outrage yesterday over reports that firefighters and paramedics took over an hour to respond to a blaze that tore through a Coptic Christian church and killed 41 people.
15 August 2022