AFP
20237 articles published since 08 Mar 2022
20237 articles published since 08 Mar 2022
President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden head to storm-ravaged Puerto Rico on Monday, in a bid to show solidarity with a US territory whose people have complained of neglect after past natural disasters. No details of the Bidens' trip have been announced, though visits to disaster zones are a customary duty of presidents.
The United States will help Taiwan "develop the capability to defend itself" from a Chinese invasion, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Sunday, stopping short of President Joe Biden's vow to send troops to the island. Austin told CNN he saw no "imminent threat" of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken begins a tour of Latin American countries on Monday in Colombia, at a time when several key regional allies have recently elected leftist presidents. In Bogota on Monday and Tuesday, Blinken -- making his second visit to Colombia as secretary of state -- will meet with President Gustavo Petro, who in early August became the country's first leftist president.
The United Arab Emirates, which already boasts the world's tallest skyscraper and has launched a bold Mars mission, now hopes to become a pioneer in the depths of the metaverse. The UAE, which has a history of bold projects including the 830-metre (2,723-foot) Burj Khalifa, hopes the metaverse can add $4 billion to annual GDP and 40,000 jobs to its workforce by 2030.
Palestinians living in the Israeli-blockaded enclave of Gaza have long endured an unstable and costly electricity supply, so Yasser al-Hajj found a different way: solar power. For most of Gaza's 2.3 million residents, living under Hamas Islamist rule and a 15-year-old Israeli blockade, power cuts are a daily fact of life that impact everything from homes to hospital wards.
Anger against police mounted in Indonesia on Monday after at least 125 people were killed in one of the deadliest disasters in the history of football, when officers fired tear gas in a packed stadium, triggering a stampede. An online petition titled "The police must stop using tear gas" gathered nearly 6,000 signatures by Monday morning.
Stocks drifted in Asia on Monday as investors await key US jobs data, while girding themselves for a corporate earnings season many fear will highlight the impact of surging inflation and interest rates. Saxo Capital Markets analysts said in a note that there was a risk-off mood "as corporate earnings misses continue to raise the threat of an ugly earnings season ahead".
In the blistering desert of Morocco, the country's last Berber nomads, the Amazigh, say their ancient lifestyle is under threat as climate change brings ever-more intense droughts. - 'Tired of fighting' - Some Moroccan nomads have given up their ancient lifestyle altogether -- and not just because of the ever-worsening climate.
Environment ministers from about 50 countries will gather in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday for a "pre-COP27" climate summit, with rich nations likely to come under pressure to raise spending to combat climate change.
AFP
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