World News

Ethiopia rejects US war crime allegations as 'inflammatory'

Ethiopia's government on Tuesday accused the United States of unfairly apportioning blame for crimes committed during the two-year Tigrayan conflict. . Blinken added that the State Department also found crimes against humanity by Ethiopian, Eritrean and Amhara forces, including killings and sexual violence, although he did not mention the TPLF. Ethiopia's foreign ministry said the US statement "unfairly apportions blame among different parties in the conflict."

Tue, Mar 21, 2023 2 mins read

World News

London police force racist, misogynist and homophobic: report

The London police forces, Britain's largest, is institutionally racist, misogynist and homophobic and could still be employing rapists and murderers, a scathing independent review said Tuesday..   - 'Upsetting' -   Casey's findings come nearly 25 years after the Macpherson Report, which probed Met failures after the murder of black teenager Stephen Lawrence in 1993, also found the force institutionally racist and recommended dozens of reforms.

Tue, Mar 21, 2023 3 mins read

World News

Sri Lanka bailout conditional on tackling corruption: IMF

Sri Lanka must not allow entrenched corruption to undermine a bailout for its bankrupt economy, the IMF said Tuesday after signing off on a $3 billion loan for the crisis-hit nation.. "The world has accepted that Sri Lanka is no longer a bankrupt country," he said in a national address.

Tue, Mar 21, 2023 2 mins read

World News

German minister begins first cabinet-level trip to Taiwan in 26 years

Germany's education minister on Tuesday inked a technological cooperation deal with Taiwan, kicking off the first cabinet-level German visit to the island in 26 years. . At the signing ceremony in Taipei, Stark-Watzinger said "it is a great pleasure and honour" for her to be the first German government minister to visit in more than two decades.

Tue, Mar 21, 2023 1 mins read

World News

Afghanistan school year starts but no classes held

Afghanistan's schools reopened Tuesday for the new academic year, but no classes were held as students were unaware of the start and hundreds of thousands of teenage girls remain barred from attending class.. Hundreds of thousands of teenage girls meanwhile remain barred from secondary school.

Tue, Mar 21, 2023 2 mins read

World News

No freedom on the horizon for Bangkok 'mall gorilla'

Seven storeys above a shopfloor hawking cheap perfume and nylon underwear, Thailand's "shopping mall gorilla" sits alone in a cage -- her home for 30 years despite a re-ignited row over her captivity.. As international pressure to release Bua Noi grew last year, the family-owned zoo rejected a reported 30 million baht ($880,000) offer from Thailand's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, saying the gorilla was too old to be rehomed.

Tue, Mar 21, 2023 3 mins read

World News

Ukraine's Hungarians stuck between Kyiv and 'pro-Putin' Orban

Until October, the medieval castle on the hill above Mukacheve in Ukraine's westernmost region sported a statue of Hungary's national symbol, the "turul" bird. . But the turul "is a chauvinistic symbol of imperial-era Hungary and belongs in a museum," Mukacheve's mayor Andriy Baloha told AFP.  "Only the trident should be on the castle," he said.

Tue, Mar 21, 2023 3 mins read

World News

Saudi releases US citizen imprisoned for critical tweets: son

A US citizen sentenced to 19 years in a Saudi prison for social media posts criticising the kingdom's rulers has been released, his son told AFP on Tuesday. . Last October, a court handed Almadi a term of 16 years behind bars, which last month was lengthened to 19 years before his surprise release on Tuesday, Ibrahim said. 

Tue, Mar 21, 2023 1 mins read

World News

In Egypt's Nile Delta, women's field hockey team upholds ancient mantle

Egypt's fertile Nile Delta may not be the obvious destination for field hockey, but a women's team is blazing a trail in a region that lays claim to the sport's ancient roots.. - Hockey vs family - Thousands of years later, the athletes of the Sharqiya women's team -- which has won 25 out of 28 league tournaments in its history -- dribble across the field to the sound of wooden hockey sticks colliding. 

Tue, Mar 21, 2023 3 mins read

World News

Iraq fashionistas champion climate-friendly vintage wear

In a palm grove north of Baghdad, bemused Iraqi shepherds looked on as models paraded second-hand garments down an improvised catwalk, seeking to raise awareness of the fashion industry's environmental impact.. Organisers mainly hope the symbolic parade will raise awareness.

Tue, Mar 21, 2023 3 mins read