Haiti chooses judge to probe president’s assassination

After weeks of struggling to fill the job, a senior magistrate in Haiti on Monday announced that a judge has been named to lead the probe into the assassination of president Jovenel Moise.
10 August 2021

Putin orders reinforcements to fight Siberia wildfires

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday ordered officials to send in reinforcements to fight forest fires that continue to tear through Siberia.
10 August 2021

Blinken speaks to Saudi minister, repeats US call for rights progress

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud on Monday and repeated a call for progress on human rights.
10 August 2021

Ethiopia PM urges civilians to join armed forces as war escalates

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed yesterday issued a call for all eligible civilians to join the armed forces as fighting rages in multiple regions of Africa’s second most populous nation.
10 August 2021

US to review classified 9/11 docs for possible publication

US officials vowed Monday to review classified documents related to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks to see which could be made public -- a recurring demand of some victims’ relatives.
10 August 2021

First West African case of Marburg virus detected: WHO

Guinea confirmed a case of Marburg disease, the World Health Organization said on Monday, the first recorded in West Africa of the lethal virus that’s related to Ebola and, like Covid-19, passed from animal hosts to humans.
10 August 2021

Prince Andrew sued in NY court for alleged sex abuse

Queen Elizabeth II’s second son, Prince Andrew, was sued in a New York court on Monday for alleged sexual abuse of a woman who says she was “lent out” for underage sex by late US financier Jeffrey Epstein.
10 August 2021

‘Hours on a footnote’

After spending hundreds of hours in virtual meetings to complete this week’s major UN climate report, scientists Piers Forster and Joeri Rogelj celebrated in a way their peers could not: by hugging. 
10 August 2021

207 arrested in latest Saudi anti-graft purge

Saudi Arabia announced the arrest of 207 employees across about a dozen government ministries in the latest sweep by an anti-corruption body empowered by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. 
10 August 2021

Brazil indigenous group sues Bolsonaro at ICC for ‘genocide’

A Brazilian indigenous organization asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) Monday to investigate President Jair Bolsonaro for “genocide” and “ecocide,” accusing him of persecuting native peoples and destroying their homelands.
10 August 2021

Save ‘our very future’

Dozens of small island states most vulnerable to the effects of climate change have called on the world to save “our very future” after a landmark UN report said accelerating global warming and rising sea levels threaten their existence. 
10 August 2021

New York Gov Andrew Cuomo resigning over sexual harassment

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced his resignation Tuesday over a barrage of sexual harassment allegations in a fall from grace a year after he was widely hailed nationally for his detailed daily briefings and leadership during some of the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
10 August 2021

Suspected jihadists kill 40 villagers in Mali, 12 troops in Burkina

Suspected jihadists massacred more than 40 civilians in northern Mali and killed 12 troops in an ambush in neighbouring Burkina Faso, officials said yesterday, highlighting the security crisis gripping the two fragile states.
9 August 2021

Top aide to New York governor Cuomo resigns: reports

A top aide to New York governor Andrew Cuomo resigned Sunday, US media reported, as the net closed further around a once-influential politician now facing the possibility of criminal charges over claims he sexually harassed 11 former and current state employees.
9 August 2021

Hungarians take part in wife-carrying contest

Some 40 Hungarian husbands, with their wives on their backs, clambered over rough terrain on Saturday in the nation’s second wife-carrying contest.
9 August 2021

Nuclear talks must guarantee Iran’s ‘rights’

Iran’s new President Ebrahim Raisi yesterday told his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron that negotiations with world powers to revive the 2015 nuclear deal must guarantee Tehran’s “rights”.
9 August 2021

California wildfire now second-worst in state history

The monstrous Dixie Fire in northern California has grown to become the second-largest wildfire in state history, authorities said Sunday, with three more people reported missing and thousands fleeing the advancing flames.
9 August 2021

‘Massive public pressure’ needed to galvanize climate fight

Calling for “massive” pressure to fight climate change after yesterday’s dire report by a UN science panel, activist Greta Thunberg said she plans to go to this year’s global climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, after all.
9 August 2021

World shudders at UN climate report

“Today’s report makes for sobering reading, and it is clear that the next decade is going to be pivotal to securing the future of our planet.” BRITISH PRIME MINISTER BORIS JOHNSON
9 August 2021

Taliban press on with northern offensive

The Taliban seized a sixth Afghan provincial capital yesterday following a weekend blitz across the north that saw urban centres fall in quick succession and the government struggle to keep the militants at bay.
9 August 2021