World News

Mexico gripped by ex-security chief's US drugs trial

Mexico is on tenterhooks awaiting fresh revelations from the US trial of former security chief Genaro Garcia Luna, accused of receiving vast sums of money to allow the notorious Sinaloa cartel to smuggle cocaine.. "From 2001 to 2012, while occupying high-ranking law enforcement positions in the Mexican government, Garcia Luna received millions of dollars in bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel in exchange for providing protection for its drug trafficking activities," the Justice Department said.

Fri, Jan 27, 2023 3 mins read

World News

Philippines to appeal ICC resumption of drug war probe

The Philippine government said Friday it intended to appeal an International Criminal Court decision to reopen an inquiry into Manila's brutal anti-drug campaign, which left thousands dead.. The group represents some of the dead suspects' families in a handful of cases being tried in Philippine courts against police officers.

Thu, Jan 26, 2023 2 mins read

World News

Hijabi 'indie mothers' embraced by young Indonesian music fans

At a packed festival in central Jakarta, hijab-clad sexagenarian singer Rien Djamain bursts into an upbeat track about nuclear destruction to a crowd of thousands, mostly young Indonesians.. They are attracted not only to the musical aesthetics but also musical comedy," he told AFP. Dangdut music has been increasing in popularity, with acts now playing at festivals across Indonesia, performing for young audiences alongside rock bands, in addition to gigs for their usual crowds in smaller villages. 

Thu, Jan 26, 2023 3 mins read

World News

In a first, German parliament spotlights Nazis' LGBTQ victims

The German parliament will for the first time on Friday focus its annual Holocaust memorial commemorations on people persecuted and killed for their sexual or gender identity.. Bas regretted that there were no LGBTQ survivors of the Nazi period left to address parliament, and noted that gay men, lesbians and transgender people still faced state persecution even decades after the war.

Thu, Jan 26, 2023 3 mins read

World News

Rome archaeologists search for start of Appian Way

All roads lead to Rome, as the saying goes, and the most prestigious is the Appian Way, the strategic highway for the Roman Empire now hoping to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.. Italy, which earlier this month presented its bid for the Appian Way to UNESCO, already has 58 sites recognised as World Heritage Sites, the most of any country. 

Thu, Jan 26, 2023 2 mins read

World News

Tunisia milk market 'collapsing' as feed prices soar

A Tunisian farmer attaches a machine to a cow's udder and sets the pump whirring, but he only expects to fetch less than half the normal amount of milk amid soaring fodder prices.. "We can only give them half the amount they used to get."

Thu, Jan 26, 2023 3 mins read

World News

Asian markets build on rally on hopes US will avoid recession

Asian markets rose again Friday as fears about a possible recession in the US economy were soothed by data showing it grew more than expected in 2022, adding to the broadly upbeat tone across trading floors this year.. Thursday's US growth figures showed a slowdown in 2022 from the previous year but a better-than-expected performance, which was described as a "Goldilocks scenario" -- where the figures are neither too good nor too bad.

Thu, Jan 26, 2023 3 mins read

World News

Peru says army, police to clear protester roadblocks

The Peruvian government said Thursday that police and soldiers would soon move to dismantle roadblocks on the nation's highways erected by protesters who have demanded for weeks the resignation of President Dina Boluarte.. On Thursday, protesters tossed stones and security forces responded with tear gas and rubber bullets in central Lima after hundreds had staged a march against Boluarte, who had been Castillo's vice president.

Thu, Jan 26, 2023 2 mins read

World News

All eyes on turnout as Tunisia votes again after boycott

Tunisians are to vote again on Sunday in elections for a parliament stripped of its powers, the final pillar of President Kais Saied's remake of politics in the birthplace of the Arab Spring.. The second-round vote comes as the North African country grapples with a grave economic crisis and deep political divisions over Saied's July 2021 power grab.

Thu, Jan 26, 2023 3 mins read

World News

Gandhi's killer a hero to India's diehard Hindu nationalists

Hindu fundamentalist Ashok Sharma has devoted his life to championing the deeds of an Indian "patriot": not revered independence hero Mahatma Gandhi, but the man who shot him dead.. "It is because of Gandhi and his ideology that India was divided and Hindus had to bow before Muslims and outsiders," said Abhishek Agarwal, like Sharma a member of the century-old radical Hindu Mahasabha group.

Thu, Jan 26, 2023 4 mins read