A 48-year-old man accused of igniting a New Zealand hostel fire that killed at least five people claimed that someone else started the blaze during a court appearance Friday.. The man, whose name was suppressed by the court, was remanded in custody.
Xi Jinping called on China and Central Asia to "fully unleash" their potential in trade, economic and infrastructure cooperation in a speech to heads of state from the strategically vital region on Friday.. The Chinese president said they must "fully unleash the potential of traditional cooperation in economy, trade, industrial capacity, energy and transport," according to a state media readout.
Takeshi Kitano makes his comeback at Cannes next week with a new samurai epic, but the cult Japanese filmmaker told AFP that he strives to remain "indifferent" to success.. Kitano's biggest commercial success, 2003's "Zatoichi", was also a samurai film, and "Kubi" is his most expensive film yet, having cost 1.5 billion yen ($11 million) to make.
Tens of thousands of Israeli nationalists marched to Jerusalem's Old City on Thursday in an annual flag-waving march commemorating Israel's capture of it, as tensions on the Gaza border remained high.. In Gaza, thousands gathered for a rival flag day on the Israeli border, many of them holding Palestinian flags.
Throughout the spring of 2022 one city represented the horrific suffering and catastrophic destruction caused by the war in Ukraine: Mariupol.. Following is a short summary of the battle: - Blockade - From the start of the war on February 24, 2022, Mariupol comes under constant shelling, forcing residents to take cover in basements.
Alyona and her family survived one hundred days of hell during Russia's siege of Mariupol, which ended a year ago on Saturday, when the last Ukrainian troops in the city surrendered.. One year on, Alyona is still afraid.
Indonesian mother-of-three Aslem was a domestic worker in Dubai when she started wiring cash to a self-professed shaman, believing that he would honour his promise to magically multiply her hard-earned wages.. – 'It was like a nightmare' - Another migrant worker, mother-of-three Neng Hana Patiningrum, told AFP she believes she also escaped death at the hands of the scammers.
Yevgenia Synelnyk can barely look at her brother's photo a year after Russia captured him and over 2,000 fighters in the Azovstal siege.. "I almost do not open his photos now because I'm kind of ashamed that I'm not doing enough, or haven't done enough," said Synelnyk, 30.
Ukraine's highly anticipated counteroffensive will be an important test of its ability to make significant new gains against Russian forces, and of the effectiveness of the massive amount of military assistance provided by Kyiv's international supporters.. Ukraine's supporters have made significant investments in its forces, including the armor referenced by Cancian -- more than 230 tanks and more than 1,550 other vehicles as of last month.
In a verdant university courtyard in the Georgian capital, a gaggle of students discuss plans to attend a protest at the Tbilisi Airport against the resumption of air links with Russia.. Hundreds of Georgians already took to the streets to protest against the resumption of flights this week.
