Mali expels UN mission’s human rights chief
BAMAKO — The Malian interim government on Sunday said the head of the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping mission’s human rights division had 48 hours to leave the country as he had been declared persona non grata. In a statement, it said the decision to expel Guillaume Ngefa-Atondoko Andali was connected to his allegedly biased choice […]
Read More →Ukraine’s Zelenskiy urges Olympic sponsors to keep Russia out of Games
LVIV — Ukraine has sent letters to companies that back the International Olympic Committee (IOC) urging them to keep Russian athletes out of the Paris Olympic Games, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday. Mr. Zelenskiy has been spearheading a drive to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from participating in the games under a neutral flag. […]
Read More →Australia PM pushes for bipartisan support on Indigenous referendum
SYDNEY — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will push for bipartisan support on a referendum that aims to set up an Indigenous consultative committee in parliament, when it meets on Monday for the first time this year. The landmark referendum, to be held later this year, will establish an Indigenous “Voice”, that can make representations […]
Read More →China’s oil demand bounce may push producers to reconsider output — IEA
BENGALURU, India — Oil producers may have to reconsider their output policies following a demand recovery in China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer, the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol said on Sunday. Demand in China, the world’s largest crude importer and No. 2 buyer of liquefied natural gas, has become the biggest […]
Read More →US jet shoots down suspected Chinese spy balloon with missile
SURFSIDE BEACH — A US military fighter jet shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina on Saturday, a week after it first entered US airspace and triggered a dramatic — and public — spying saga that worsened Sino-US relations. President Joseph R. Biden said he had issued an order […]
Read More →French PM offers to tweak pension overhaul for conservatives backing
PARIS — French Prime Minister (PM) Elisabeth Borne offered on Sunday to soften a planned pension overhaul to let some people who started work early also retire early in order to win conservatives support for the reform in parliament. President Emmanuel Macron’s government wants to raise the retirement age two years to 64 and extend […]
Read More →US court rules ban on marijuana users owning guns is unconstitutional
A FEDERAL LAW prohibiting marijuana users from possessing firearms is unconstitutional, a federal judge in Oklahoma has concluded, citing last year’s US Supreme Court ruling that significantly expanded gun rights. US District Judge Patrick Wyrick, an appointee of former Republican President Donald Trump in Oklahoma City, on Friday dismissed an indictment against a man charged […]
Read More →Brutal cold seizes northeast US, shattering record lows
A DANGEROUS combination of record-setting cold temperatures and powerful winds buffeted the northeastern United States on Saturday, creating life-threatening conditions and causing the death of an infant in Massachusetts. New Hampshire’s Mount Washington overnight recorded a wind chill — a measure of how the combined effect of air and wind feels to the skin — […]
Read More →Take a bow-wow! Meet Bobi, the world’s oldest dog on record
CONQUEIROS, Portugal — When his dog was born three decades ago in a tiny village in central Portugal, Leonel Costa was only eight years old. Little did he know that his beloved Bobi would one day be recorded as the world’s oldest dog. When Bobi, a purebred Rafeiro do Alentejo, celebrated its 30th birthday last […]
Read More →People under domestic violence orders can own guns, says US appeals court
A United States (US) appeals court on Thursday declared unconstitutional a federal law making it a crime for people under domestic violence restraining orders to own firearms. The decision by a three-judge panel of the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals is the latest victory for gun rights advocates since a Supreme Court ruling last […]
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