Australian police arrest seven alleged teen extremists linked to stabbing of a bishop in a Sydney church
Sydney, Australia AP Australian police arrested seven teenagers accused of following a violent extremist ideology in raids across Sydney on Wednesday, as a judge extended a ban on social media platform X sharing video of a knife attack on a bishop that started the criminal investigation. The seven, aged 15 to 17, were part of […]
Myanmar rebel group withdraws troops from key town on Thai border
Reuters A Myanmar rebel group has withdrawn its troops from a town along the Thai border following a counter-offensive by soldiers of the ruling junta from whom the resistance fighters had wrested the key trading post this month, an official said on Wednesday. The Karen National Union (KNU) made a “temporary retreat” from the town […]
Rev Cecil Williams, who turned San Francisco’s Glide Church into a refuge for many, has died
San Francisco, US AP Rev Cecil Williams, who with his late wife turned Glide Church in San Francisco into a world-renowned haven for people suffering from poverty and homelessness and living on the margins, has died. He was 94. Williams and his wife, Janice Marikitami, who passed away in 2021, appeared in Will Smith’s film The […]
Pro-Palestinian encampments spring up on more US college campuses
New York, US Reuters Pro-Palestinian students have set up tent encampments at more campuses across the US to protest Israel’s incursion into Gaza, after mass arrests at similar demonstrations at a handful of mostly East Coast colleges in recent days. The expanding protests include plans by a coalition of Jewish groups opposing Israel’s actions to […]
StrangeSights: Seagull screeching champions; playing chess for 60 hours; and Russians give toads a helping hand…
DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
As plastic treaty talks open, countries more divided than ever
Reuters Countries are under pressure to make progress on a first-ever global plastics treaty this week, but they face tense negotiations in the Canadian capital with parties deeply divided over what the treaty should include as talks begin on Tuesday. If governments can agree on a legally binding treaty that addresses not just how plastics […]
Haiti police bolster security around palace ahead of transition
Port-au-Prince Reuters Haitian police deployed tear gas to move people back from a security perimeter around the National Palace while soldiers gripping rifles patrolled the international airport’s diplomatic entrance on Tuesday, ahead of a planned change of government. The palace has come under repeated fire from gangs that have paralysed the capital Port-au-Prince. A nine-member […]
Twenty one dead, 23 missing after boat capsizes off Djibouti coast, UN agency official says
Nairobi, Kenya Reuters Twenty-one migrants died and another 23 are missing after a boat carrying 77 people capsized off the coast of Djibouti, the second such incident in two weeks, the United Nations migration agency said on Tuesday. The boat’s occupants included children, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said in a post on social […]
At least 10 jihadist attacks prevented in Europe in 2023, Dutch agency says
Amsterdam, The Netherlands Reuters Western intelligence prevented at least 10 jihadist attacks across Europe last year and the current war between Israel and the militant Palestinian group Hamas has increased the threat of further attacks, Dutch intelligence agency AIVD said on Tuesday. The foiled attacks included a plan to stab people at random and preparations […]
Argentina’s Milei faces biggest protest yet as students march over budget cuts
Buenos Aires, Argentina Reuters Hundreds of thousands of Argentines took to the streets of Buenos Aires on Tuesday in an anti-government march against budget cuts to public universities, the biggest protest yet against President Javier Milei’s painful austerity measures. The demonstrations are the latest example of rising tension over spending cuts that are helping undo […]