Auroras dazzle in Latin America as solar storm causes rare displays
Mexico City, Mexico Reuters The biggest geomagnetic storm in two decades, sparked by solar flares, caused dazzling lights displays in parts of Latin America overnight on Friday, including a rare appearance in Mexico. A view shows the lights of an Aurora Borealis caused by a geomagnetic storm over the border cities of Mexicali, Mexico and […]
Indigenous groups claim stake in sunken Spanish ship, cargo off Colombia
Madrid, Spain Reuters Members of three South American Indigenous communities have asked Spain and UNESCO to declare a Spanish galleon that sank 300 years ago with a bountiful cargo as “common and shared heritage” from which they too should benefit. The San Jose galleon, thought by historians to be carrying one of the largest known […]
India poll watchdog’s inaction lets PM Modi commit “brazen” violations, opposition says
New Delhi, India Reuters India’s opposition said the nation’s election commission was allowing Prime Minister Narendra Modi to continue “unchecked and brazen” violations by not taking action on opposition complaints of religious hate speech and misrepresentation. More than halfway through India’s six-week national elections, the world’s biggest, the Congress party-led opposition complained in a letter […]
Gunmen kidnap more than 100 in attack on villages in north-west Nigeria
Maiduguri, Nigeria Reuters More than 100 people were kidnapped by gunmen during Friday night raids on three villages in north-west Nigeria, a district head and residents said on Saturday, the latest abduction of villagers in a region blighted by widespread insecurity. Kidnapping has become endemic in Nigeria’s north-west as roving gangs of armed men abduct […]
Australia says Palestinian UN membership bid builds peace momentum
Sydney, Australia Reuters Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Saturday the country’s support for a Palestinian bid to become a full United Nations member was part of building momentum to secure peace in the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Australia voted on Friday with the overwhelming majority of the UN General Assembly in backing the […]
Organised crime: Italy’s mafia turns to white-collar crime as murder, extortion fall out of favour
EMILIO PARODI, of Reuters, reports on how the Italian mafia have moved into white collar crime…
US “alarmed”, 50,000 protest Georgia’s foreign agent bill
Tbilisi, Georgia Reuters About 50,000 opponents of a “foreign agents” bill marched peacefully in heavy rain through the Georgian capital on Saturday, after the United States said the country had to choose between the “Kremlin-style” law and the people’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations. “We are deeply alarmed about democratic backsliding in Georgia,” White House national security adviser […]
Fierce fighting rages in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region as Russia touts gains
Kyiv, Ukraine Reuters Fierce fighting raged into a second day on the fringes of Ukraine’s north-eastern Kharkiv region on Saturday as Moscow said it had captured five villages, while Kyiv said it was repulsing the attacks and battling for control of the settlements. Russia launched the armoured incursion early on Friday, an attack on a […]
Protesters return to streets across Israel, demanding hostage release
Tel Aviv, Israel Reuters Thousands of Israelis took to the streets on Saturday demanding that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government do more to secure the release of hostages being held in the Gaza Strip by Islamist group Hamas. Family members of the hostages, carrying pictures of their loved ones still in captivity, joined the crowds […]
Israel orders Palestinians to evacuate from more areas of Gaza’s Rafah
Cairo, Egypt/Jerusalem Reuters Israel called on Saturday for Palestinians in more areas of Gaza’s southern city of Rafah to evacuate and head to what it calls an expanded humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi, in a further indication that the military is pressing ahead with its plans for a ground attack on Rafah. The Israeli military also […]