World News

UN climate chief hails 'unique insights' of embattled COP28 head

The UN's top climate official hailed the "unique insight" of a UAE oil executive whose naming as president of the key COP28 climate summit has outraged advocates and experts.. Reaction to host United Arab Emirates' appointment of al-Jaber in January as president of the COP28 summit in December has caused a furor among green groups and climate experts, as well as calls for him to step aside.

Tear gas, arrests at Kenya protest over tax hike plans

Kenyan police fired tear gas and arrested 11 protesters, AFP journalists said, during a march in Nairobi on Tuesday against a new finance bill that critics say will pile more economic hardship on ordinary people.. Police fired several volleys of tear gas and arrested 11 people, bundling them into a police truck, to try to disperse the demonstration, AFP journalists at the scene said.  

'Everything is going to die': Kherson locals rage at Russians

"Everything is going to die here," said Sergiy as water from the breached Kakhovka dam poured downstream into the Ukrainian city of Kherson on Tuesday.. Locals blamed Russia for blowing up the dam as water poured into the southern city from the mighty Dnipro River, flowing down roads and covering low-lying fields.

Major aid group's women staff partially resume work in Afghanistan

A leading international NGO's Afghan women staff have resumed their work in some provinces, months after the Taliban government banned them from working. . Since the ban, UNAMA has asked all of its Afghan staff -- men and women -- to work from home, but other agencies in the country "have had different ways of handling the situation", he noted.

Pope in hospital for check-up: Italian media

Pope Francis visited a Rome hospital for a medical check-up on Tuesday, according to Italian media, just over two months after he was hospitalised with bronchitis.. When Francis was hospitalised at the end of March the Vatican initially said in a one-line statement that he had gone into the Gemelli for health checks that were previously scheduled.

Kakhovka: a strategic dam in Russian-occupied Ukraine

Thousands are at risk of flooding in southern Ukraine, with Kyiv and Moscow blaming each other for damage to the strategic Russian-held Kakhovka hydroelectric dam.. Kyiv says Moscow destroyed the dam to slow down its military counteroffensive.

Blinken visits Saudi Arabia to rebuild strained ties

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday to strengthen strained ties with the long-time ally as the oil-rich kingdom forges closer relations with America's rivals. . The United States also hopes that Saudi Arabia will eventually agree to normalise relations with Israel, which already built ties with several other Arab countries under the Abraham Accords brokered by the Donald Trump administration. 

Iran unveils hypersonic missile hailing deterrent boost

Iran's Revolutionary Guards unveiled an intermediate range ballistic missile Tuesday capable of travelling at hypersonic speeds of up to 15 times the speed of sound, state television reported.. "The range of the Fattah missile is 1,400 kilometres (870 miles) and its speed before hitting its target" is between 13 and 15 times the speed of sound, IRNA said.

10,368: The incomplete count of Ukraine's civilian dead

The Russian missile strike took nearly everything from Oleksandr Remez -- his wife Natalia and their home in central Ukraine.. "They (Russia) must be held responsible for each one," Remez said, standing near a memorial for his wife and the 22 others killed in the April 28 strike.