Perched on the nose of the Soviet-designed tank near the Donetsk front line, one soldier in Ukrainian commander Maksym's brigade was cradling a can of kitten food repurposed as a paraffin candle.. He said that while to some that's "a design defect" because it makes the tank larger and provides a bigger target, it's a "trade off" -- one the Ukrainians appear all for.
Anti-apartheid activist Frene Ginwala, the speaker of South Africa's first democratic elected parliament -- and the first woman to hold the office -- has died aged 90, the country's presidency said on Friday.. Ginwala was appointed speaker of the National Assembly in 1994, as Nelson Mandela was elected president marking the end of decades of white rule.
Germany will end the requirement to wear face masks on long-distance trains and buses from February 2 as the coronavirus pandemic loosened its grip on the country, authorities announced Friday.. Alongside Germany, Spain is the only other large European country to maintain mask rules on long-distance trains and public transport, with the Spanish government announcing in October that these will remain in place until at least March 2023. dwi/sea/jm
Ukraine has effectively become a NATO member, its defence minister has said, despite the military alliance's reluctance to get embroiled in a wider conflict with Russia.. "Ukraine as a country, and the armed forces of Ukraine, became (a) member of NATO," the defence minister added.
The sarcophagus of ancient Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II is to return to Paris in April for the first time in almost 50 years, in a rare loan of the relic outside Egypt.. One of the best-known pharaohs, reputed as a great warrior and builder of temples, Ramses II ruled from 1279-1213 BC. Inscriptions on the sarcophagus' sides detail how his body was moved three times from 1070 BC, after his tomb in Luxor's Valley of the Kings was raided by grave-robbers.
Ukraine said Friday it was resisting a "high intensity" Russian offensive in Soledar, a nearly completely destroyed town in the eastern Donetsk region that is now the epicentre of the war.. The enemy relocated almost all of its main forces to the Donetsk front and is maintaining a high intensity offensive," Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar said.
South Korean police on Friday blamed negligence and planning failures for last year's Halloween crowd crush in Seoul that killed more than 150 people.. But a series of preventable disasters -- such as the Halloween crush and the 2014 Sewol ferry sinking that killed 304 people -- has shaken public confidence in the authorities. cdl/ceb/qan
South Korean police on Friday blamed negligence and planning failures for last year's Halloween crowd crush in Seoul that killed more than 150 people.. But a series of preventable disasters -- such as the Halloween crush and the 2014 Sewol ferry sinking that killed 304 people -- has shaken public confidence in the authorities. cdl/ceb/qan
The man accused of killing former prime minister Shinzo Abe was indicted on Friday, a Japanese court said, after a lengthy psychiatric review found him fit to stand trial.. The assassination also increased scrutiny on Abe's alleged long-standing family ties to the sect -- especially those of his grandfather, former prime minister Nobusuke Kishi, who was photographed shaking hands with Moon.
A billionaire, a general and an academic are favourites going into the first round of the Czech presidential election that begins Friday and concludes on Saturday and is seen by observers as too close to call.. Polling stations open for the first round at 2:00 pm Friday (1300 GMT) and close at 10:00 pm, then reopen at 8:00 am Saturday until 2:00 pm.
