Other News

Four die on Mount Fuji ahead of climbing season: Japan’s NHK

TOKYO, June 27, 2024 (AFP) – Four bodies were recovered near the summit of Mount Fuji, Japanese media reported Wednesday, days before the summer climbing season begins. Authorities have long warned climbers to take care when attempting to scale Japan’s highest mountain, where hiking trails officially open on Monday. The bodies of three people were found near the volcano’s crater as rescuers searched for a Tokyo resident who did not come home after he climbed […]

‘The people have spoken’: Kenya’s Ruto pulls finance bill after protest deaths

By Dylan GAMBA NAIROBI, June 26, 2024 (AFP) – Kenyan President William Ruto said Wednesday that a bill containing contentious tax hikes would “be withdrawn”, dramatically reversing course after more than 20 people were killed in clashes with police and parliament was ransacked by protesters opposed to the legislation. The initially peaceful demonstrations were sparked last week by the 2024 finance bill — which politicians passed Tuesday afternoon — and took Ruto’s administration by surprise […]

Trump, Biden gird for historic US presidential debate

By Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS with Frankie TAGGART in Washington ATLANTA, June 26, 2024 (AFP) – Joe Biden and Donald Trump made final preparations Wednesday for the biggest moment so far in the US election — the first of two high-stakes debates that could upend the race. Thursday’s televised showdown will raise the campaigning to boiling point, with tens of millions expected to tune in and both camps escalating their increasingly personal attacks. “I think I have […]

N. Korean test of likely hypersonic missile fails: Seoul military official

SEOUL, June 26, 2024 (AFP) – North Korea test-fired what appeared to be a hypersonic missile on Wednesday, but the launch ended in a mid-air explosion, an official from Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The early morning launch came just hours after Pyongyang sent another flurry of trash-bearing balloons southward, this time forcing a three-hour halt to flights in and out of South Korea’s Incheon airport. The missile took off from an area in […]

Austrian ex-minister exiled in Russia denies she is ‘Kremlin agent’

By Blaise GAUQUELIN VIENNA, June 26, 2024 (AFP) – Austria’s highly controversial former foreign minister Karin Kneissl — who now lives in Russia — told AFP she feels slandered as Vienna reels from an unfolding Russian spying scandal. A pariah in her home country after dancing with Russian President Vladimir Putin at her wedding, Kneissl claims she had no choice but to flee Austria and shelter in Russia. Now she denies any involvement in the […]

Australia pushes Solomons to rely on Pacific nations for security

SYDNEY, June 26, 2024 (AFP) – Australia urged Solomon Islands to rely on fellow Pacific nations for security assistance Wednesday during a visit by China-friendly Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele. The Solomons leader was visiting Australia as part of a three-nation tour that will also take him to China and Japan. It is Manele’s first official international trip since he replaced enthusiastic Beijing supporter Manasseh Sogavare as prime minister in May. Sogavare switched diplomatic recognition from […]

North Korea launches missile in sea in apparent show of force

SEOUL, June 26, 2024 (AFP) – North Korea fired a ballistic missile toward the sea on Wednesday, the South Korean military said, according to the Yonhap news agency. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it detected the launch but gave no details, saying an analysis is under way. The office of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida confirmed on social media platform X that North Korea launched a suspected ballistic missile. “The suspected ballistic missile […]

Asian markets fluctuate after Wall St rebound, inflation in view

HONG KONG, June 26, 2024 (AFP) – Asian markets swung Wednesday following a tech-led bounce on Wall Street as investors prepare for the release of crucial US inflation data, while the yen fell back towards levels that have stirred intervention warnings from Japanese officials. The euro also remained under pressure ahead of weekend elections in France that polls suggest will see big wins for the far-right and leftwing parties pushing President Emmanuel Macron’s centrists into […]

After long wait, Kenyan police begin security mission in Haiti

By Jean Daniel Senat with Hillary Orinde in Nairobi and Shaun Tandon in Washington PORT-AU-PRINCE, June 25, 2024 (AFP) – Kenyan police arrived in violence-ravaged Haiti on Tuesday on a long-awaited mission to help wrest the Caribbean nation from powerful gangs, just as Nairobi saw its own deadly turmoil during mass protests. Wearing camouflage uniforms, helmets and rifles, about 200 officers descended from a Kenya Airways plane on the tarmac in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince. […]

Russia puts US journalist Evan Gershkovich on trial

YEKATERINBURG, Russia, June 26, 2024 (AFP) – US journalist Evan Gershkovich will face the start of a closed-door trial on espionage charges in Russia on Wednesday, more than a year after he became the first Western journalist since the Soviet era to be detained on such accusations. The Wall Street Journal correspondent, who along with his employer and the White House has denied the charges, was arrested in March 2023 while on a reporting trip […]

Westerners arrested in Russia

PARIS, June 26, 2024 (AFP) – US reporter Evan Gershkovich is due to face the start of a closed-door trial on espionage charges in Russia on Wednesday. He is one of several Westerners held by Russia at a time when Moscow’s tensions with the West have soared to Cold War-era levels, following the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine. Washington has accused Moscow of arresting its citizens on baseless charges to use them as bargaining chips to […]

Biden, Trump offer competing vision of US role in world

By Shaun TANDON WASHINGTON, June 26, 2024 (AFP) – Ahead of their first presidential debate, Joe Biden and Donald Trump are offering sharply different visions of the US role in the world, both in style and substance. The rare matchup between a current and former president puts their stark contrasts on display. Trump during his 2017-2021 presidency vowed to put “America First,” with a combative and often isolationist view of the world, while Biden took […]