World

Philippine Nobel laureate Maria Ressa warned Wednesday of “extremely dangerous times ahead” in an interview with AFP after social media giant Meta ended its US fact-checking program on Facebook and Instagram.Ressa and the Rappler news site she co-founded have spent years fighting online disinformation while battling court cases filed under former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte …

Nobel winner Ressa tells AFP ‘dangerous times’ ahead after Meta ends US fact-checking Read More »

A French magazine produced by autistic journalists went on sale on newsstands for the first time on Wednesday, further raising the profile of a project that has already made waves on television.Le Papotin has an editorial team of around 40 journalists with autism spectrum disorders who produce a yearly magazine that features high-profile celebrity interviews and cultural …

French magazine run by autistic journalists hits newsstands Read More »

Thousands of rescuers were searching for survivors in freezing conditions Wednesday after a devastating earthquake in China’s remote Tibet region killed at least 126 people. Videos published by state broadcaster CCTV on Wednesday showed rescue workers pulling injured victims from the rubble of collapsed buildings and carrying them to safety.Footage also showed a man in a …

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A decade after jihadists ransacked Iraq’s famed Nimrud site, archaeologists have been painstakingly putting together its ancient treasures, shattered into tens of thousands of tiny fragments.Once the crown jewel of the ancient Assyrian empire, the archaeological site was ravaged by Islamic State (IS) fighters after they seized large areas of Iraq and neighbouring Syria in …

Iraqi archaeologists piece together ancient treasures ravaged by IS Read More »

Fighters in southern Syria who helped topple President Bashar al-Assad are reluctant to disarm and disband as ordered by the country’s new rulers, their spokesman told AFP.An Islamist-led offensive ripped through Syria from the north and into Damascus on December 8, bringing to a sudden end five decades of rule by the Assad clan.On December …

South Syria fighters reluctant to give up weapons: spokesman Read More »

A ferocious wildfire in a Los Angeles suburb, home to many Hollywood celebrities, devoured buildings and sparked panicked evacuations Tuesday, as hurricane-force winds tore through the region.Frightened residents abandoned their cars on one of the only roads in and out of the upscale Pacific Palisades area, fleeing on foot from the almost 3,000-acre (1,200-hectare) blaze …

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Bangladesh money laundering investigators have ordered the country’s big banks to hand over details of transactions relating to British anti-corruption minister Tulip Siddiq in an ongoing graft probe, officers told AFP.Siddiq is the niece of former Bangladeshi premier Sheikh Hasina, who fled abroad last August after a student-led uprising against her iron-fisted tenure.Last month the …

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Venezuela’s “colectivos,” groups of armed civilian volunteers accused of committing violence on behalf of Nicolas Maduro’s pariah regime, are poised to pounce on opposition protests called for the eve of the president’s swearing-in ceremony.They have already been deployed to violently put down demonstrations that erupted after Maduro’s declaration of re-election victory last July — a …

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Thai police on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant for a gunman suspected of shooting dead a Cambodian opposition politician in a brazen attack in downtown Bangkok.Exiled Cambodian opposition figurehead Sam Rainsy accused the country’s powerful former leader Hun Sen of ordering the killing of Lim Kimya on Tuesday.Lim Kimya was shot dead by a gunman …

Thai police hunt suspect over Cambodian politician shooting Read More »

Venezuela is on tenterhooks as it braces for pro- and anti-government protests Thursday — the eve of President Nicolas Maduro’s swearing-in for a third term rejected by the opposition and much of the international community as illegitimate.With exiled opposition figure Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia vowing to return home to claim the presidency he insists he won …

Venezuela on tenterhooks ahead of rival protests, Maduro swearing-in Read More »