World News

Sri Lanka president flees to Maldives ahead of expected resignation

Sri Lanka's embattled president flew out of his country to the Maldives early Wednesday, in a probable prelude to his resignation after months of widespread protests against his island nation's worst-ever economic crisis.. Gotabaya Rajapaksa had promised at the weekend to resign on Wednesday and clear the way for a "peaceful transition of power" after fleeing his official residence in Colombo just before tens of thousands of protesters overran it.

Tue, Jul 12, 2022 3 mins read

World News

Twitter lawsuit accuses Elon Musk of contract breach

Twitter on Tuesday sued Elon Musk for breaching the $44 billion contract he signed to buy the tech firm, calling his exit strategy "a model of hypocrisy," court documents showed.. "Musk's conduct simply confirms that he wants to escape the binding contract he freely signed, and to damage Twitter in the process," the lawsuit contended.

Tue, Jul 12, 2022 1 mins read

World News

Two charged with laundering in $1.2 bn Venezuelan fraud case

A Swiss and an Argentine were charged in Miami Tuesday with helping launder part of $1.2 billion taken from Venezuelan state oil firm PDVSA in a long-running corruption and bribery investigation.. The charges filed in federal court said the two were retained to launder a large chunk of the funds stolen from the oil company in a currency exchange scheme underpinned by bribery.

Tue, Jul 12, 2022 1 mins read

World News

Sri Lanka president flees his country on a military aircraft

Sri Lanka's embattled president flew out of his country early Wednesday, in a probable prelude to his resignation after months of widespread protests over the island nation's worst-ever economic crisis.. Gotabaya Rajapaksa had promised at the weekend to resign on Wednesday and clear the way for a "peaceful transition of power", after fleeing his official residence in Colombo just before tens of thousands of protesters overran it.

Tue, Jul 12, 2022 3 mins read

World News

Sri Lankan president flies out of country: officials

Sri Lanka's embattled President Gotabaya Rajapaksa flew out of the country early Wednesday heading to the neighbouring Maldives, local officials said. . His previous attempts to arrange a military flight to Sri Lanka's closest neighbour India failed as clearance for a military aircraft to land in a civilian airport was not given. aj/slb/st

Tue, Jul 12, 2022 1 mins read

World News

Cosmic cliffs and dancing galaxies: Webb begins era of discovery

The cosmic cliffs of a stellar nursery and a quintet of galaxies bound in a celestial dance: NASA released the next wave of images from the James Webb Space Telescope Tuesday, heralding a new era of astronomy.. - Stellar nurseries and graveyards - Webb also revealed never-before-seen details of Stephan's Quintet, a grouping of five galaxies including four that experience repeated close encounters, which provide insights into how early galaxies formed at the start of the universe.

Tue, Jul 12, 2022 3 mins read

World News

Tourists trample all over protected, prehistoric Peruvian hill carving

Tourists have left footprints all over Peru's Paracas Candelabra, an enormous hillside carving that dates from some 2,500 years ago, according to officials who have launched a search for the culprits.. They found "two rows of footsteps that go from the bottom (of the carving) to the top, zigzagging, entering the right arm (of the candelabra), the left arm, and central part of the geoglyph," which visitors are allowed to view only from the sea, it added.

Tue, Jul 12, 2022 1 mins read

World News

French court jails ex-top Rwanda official for 20 years over genocide

A French court on Tuesday jailed a former senior Rwandan official for 20 years after finding him guilty of complicity in the African nation's genocide.. Four people in three cases have already been convicted in French courts over the genocide: a former hotel driver was handed a 14-year sentence, an army officer was jailed for 25 years and two mayors were given life sentences. asl/jh-adp/jj

Tue, Jul 12, 2022 2 mins read

World News

Saving Guatemala's poisonous 'Sleeping Child' lizard

With its sharp claws, scaly skin and venomous bite, Guatemala's "Sleeping Child" lizard has earned itself few human friends. . Sleeping Child lizard numbers have been further decimated by human encroachment on its ever-shrinking habitat, climate change, and capture for sale as exotic pets.

Tue, Jul 12, 2022 1 mins read

World News

Russia opens criminal case against activist Yashin: lawyer

Russian authorities have launched a criminal case against Ilya Yashin, one of the last opposition figures remaining in the country, for allegedly spreading false information about the Russian army, his lawyer said Tuesday.. He cited the case of his friend and fellow opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza, who was first detained and later slapped with criminal charges for allegedly spreading false information about the Russian army.

Tue, Jul 12, 2022 1 mins read