World News

Kenya sending troops to DR Congo to fight rebel advance

Kenya's President William Ruto announced Wednesday that Nairobi was deploying troops to eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in a joint regional operation against a rebel offensive.. Leaders of the seven-nation East African Community (EAC) bloc, in which Kenya is the regional heavyweight, agreed in April to establish a joint force to help restore security in the DRC. Speaking at a ceremony in Nairobi to flag off the deployment, Ruto said the troops were "on a mission to protect humanity".

Wed, Nov 2, 2022 3 mins read

World News

Mette Frederiksen, the face of the anti-immigration left in Denmark

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, poised to form a new government after winning Denmark's election this week, is a social-media loving leader who has overseen her Social Democrats' monumental shift to a "zero refugee" policy.. She went on to become prime minister after the 2019 election, and has since led an all-Social Democrat minority government.

Wed, Nov 2, 2022 3 mins read

World News

Ukraine grain shipments resume as Russia rejoins deal

Grain export shipments from Ukraine resumed on Wednesday as Russia said it was rejoining a deal brokered by the UN and Turkey to establish a safe Black Sea corridor.. Russia on Saturday had said it was temporarily pulling out, accusing Ukraine of misusing the safe shipping corridor to launch a drone attack on its Black Sea fleet.

Wed, Nov 2, 2022 2 mins read

World News

Iran orders probe into 'shocking' police brutality video

Iranian authorities on Wednesday ordered an investigation into a video showing officers savagely beating a protester that rights groups said exposed the sheer brutality of the police repression against protests sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini.. "Amid a crisis of impunity, they're given free rein to brutally beat and shoot protesters," it added, calling on the UN Human Rights Council to "urgently investigate these crimes".

Wed, Nov 2, 2022 3 mins read

World News

After slim victory, Danish PM to form broader government

A day after scoring a narrow election victory, Denmark's Social Democratic Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen tendered her resignation Wednesday to begin the process of forming a new, broader government.. The prime minister presented her government's resignation in order "to enter into negotiations to form a broader government and that will probably take a while," political scientist Rune Stubager, a professor at Aarhus University, told AFP. Frederiksen's left-wing bloc, which includes five parties plus three seats from the autonomous territories Greenland and the Faroe Islands, won a majority of 90 seats, compared to 73 for the right and far-right, and 16 for the centre. 

Wed, Nov 2, 2022 3 mins read

World News

War and peace collide in Ukraine's recaptured ruins

The two Ukrainian women sat laughing on a sunny bench during a day-long lull in Russian shelling and argued about what it feels like to be in a war.. But months of suffering have had the exact opposite effect on the two women on the bench.

Wed, Nov 2, 2022 3 mins read

World News

Seoul's Halloween crush 'predictable, preventable,' analysts say

On what should have been a night of fun for tens of thousands of Halloween revellers, a bottleneck in a narrow alley of Seoul's entertainment district instead claimed 156 lives, with analysts and top officials blaming a crowd control failure.. "They either become part of the crowd themselves, and hence their lives will be in danger too, or they will be pure observers that do not even have enough information about what is happening within the crowd," crowd safety expert Milad Haghani of the University of New South Wales told AFP. - 'Recipe for disaster' - According to Haghani, Itaewon's Halloween festivities ticked all the risk factor boxes for crowd surges. 

Wed, Nov 2, 2022 3 mins read

World News

Fed poised for further US rate hike as political pressure mounts

US central bankers are expected to announce another steep interest rate hike Wednesday as they try to prevent soaring inflation from becoming ingrained, but politicians are piling on the pressure in the final days of the midterm elections.. - Political pressure - As central bankers walk a tightrope fighting inflation while avoiding tipping the economy into a recession, politicians are ramping up pressure on Fed officials amid growing worries of a downturn.

Wed, Nov 2, 2022 2 mins read

World News

Costa Rica ends search for downed plane carrying German fitness billionaire

Costa Rican authorities on Tuesday ended the search for the plane in which German billionaire Rainer Schaller and his family were traveling, nearly two weeks after it crashed in the Caribbean.. "Today, November 1, we are officially closing the search case of the plane crash in the Caribbean."

Wed, Nov 2, 2022 1 mins read

World News

Seoul distress calls show four hours of mayhem, police inaction

South Korean Prime Minister Han Duck-soo vowed on Wednesday to hold police accountable for Seoul's deadly Halloween crowd surge, after a log of emergency calls showed authorities were slow to respond.. The first emergency call was made at 6:34 pm, a nervous caller warning that police needed to control the crowd before the crush of people turned deadly.

Wed, Nov 2, 2022 2 mins read