Unnamed militant group drove vehicle laden with explosives into post and detonated suicide bombs
Militants have attacked a military post in Pakistan near Afghanistan using a vehicle laden with explosives, killing five security force members, Pakistan’s military said.
The incident in north-west Pakistan was carried out by six attackers, the military’s media wing said in a statement, without naming the militant group responsible for the attack.
Continue reading...FAA investigating loss of panel before Boeing 737-800 landed safely in Oregon
The US Federal Aviation Administration is investigating how a United Airlines Boeing 737-800 lost an external panel before landing safely in Oregon.
United flight 433 landed at Medford airport at about 1.45pm on Friday carrying 139 passengers and six crew after departing from San Francisco, the FAA and airline said.
Continue reading...Hamas seeks scaled-back release it can portray as victory as Israeli government weighs conflicting pressures over hostages
In a cafe on a dusty roundabout in the small West Bank town of Silwad, men sit and play cards, one eye on the large TV screen showing the latest news from Gaza. When there is any mention of a possible ceasefire deal – and so the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails – there is silence.
“Nobody tell us anything officially. We see on the news about a deal. So we just know that my brother might be released,” said Akhram Hammad, a 45-year-old blacksmith whose sibling Tayyer is serving multiple life sentences for shooting dead seven Israeli soldiers and three civilians at a checkpoint not far from Silwad in 2002. “It would be really good and everybody would be really happy; otherwise, he will spend the rest of his life behind bars.”
Continue reading...Outrage from the far right over rumours of a performance at the opening ceremony has exposed deep divisions in France
She is the most listened-to French singer in the world, whose relentlessly catchy hits about love and betrayal have been streamed 7bn times and who made history last year when she sold out three Paris gigs in 15 minutes.
But Aya Nakamura, France’s biggest pop superstar who is known for her unique French style influenced by Afrobeats and Caribbean zouk, called out racism and ignorance this week after far-right politicians expressed outrage over the possibility that she could sing at the Paris Olympics.
Continue reading...Company denied that Tim Cook deceived investors when he said iPhone sales were strong weeks before revenue warning
Apple has agreed to pay $490m to settle a class-action lawsuit led by the UK’s Norfolk county council.
The class action alleged chief executive Tim Cook misled investors about a steep downturn in iPhone’s sales in China that culminated in a jarring revision to the company’s revenue forecast.
Continue reading...Judge agrees to month-long postponement after Trump lawyers say they need more time to sift through newly released documents
A judge on Friday delayed Donald Trump’s hush-money criminal trial until at least mid-April after the former president’s lawyers said they needed more time to sift through a profusion of evidence they only recently obtained from a previous federal investigation into the matter.
Judge Juan Manuel Merchan agreed to a 30-day postponement and scheduled a hearing for 25 March to address questions about the evidence dump. The trial had been slated to start on 25 March. It is among four criminal indictments against Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee.
Continue reading...Testimony contained in documents released by supreme court details alleged plot to overturn result of 2022 Brazilian election
Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro presented top military officials with a plan to carry out a coup d’état after his defeat in the October 2022 election, two former commanders have told the police, according to newly released judicial documents.
In testimonies made public on Friday, former army commander Marco Antônio Freire Gomes and former air force commander Carlos Baptista Júnior said Bolsonaro held several meetings in December 2022 in which he presented a document that would have served as the basis to overturn the results of the election, which he lost to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Former guards tell of clashes on farm that is facing civil claims over allegations of killing, rape and beatings
Former security guards at a vast Del Monte pineapple farm in Kenya have for the first time described violent clashes between guards and thieves at the plantation, which is facing civil claims over allegations of killing, rape and beatings by its guards.
This month Del Monte announced it would outsource its security operations at the farm to G4S, sacking its 214 in-house guards.
Continue reading...Rallies take place in Idlib region, held by rebels against Bashar al-Assad, whose repression sparked civil war in 2011
Thousands of people have taken to the streets of Syria’s rebel-held north-west to mark 13 years since pro-democracy protests swept the country, chanting against President Bashar al-Assad and the region’s jihadist rulers.
The government’s brutal suppression of the 2011 uprising triggered a civil war that has killed more than half a million people, drawn in foreign armies and jihadists, and divided the country.
Continue reading...More than 75 injured in Black Sea city during deadliest attack on Ukrainian civilian area in weeks
A Russian ballistic missile attack has killed at least 20 people and injured more than 75 in the Black Sea city of Odesa, Ukrainian officials have said.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia would receive a “fair response” from Ukrainian forces for what he said was a “vile” strike on a city that has been attacked by Russian drones or missiles almost every day this month.
Continue reading...Israeli PM’s decision may be intended to put negotiating pressure on Hamas, observers say, after his cabinet discussed truce proposal
Benjamin Netanyahu has approved plans for an attack on Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza, where more than a million people displaced from elsewhere in the territory have sought shelter, officials in Israel have said.
The decision was made as a ship towing a barge loaded with food arrived off Gaza on Friday. It was a test run for a new aid route by sea from Cyprus into the devastated Palestinian territory, where famine looms after five months of Israel’s military campaign.
Continue reading...Industry minister says review of popular video app that is planning to expand in country has been ongoing since September 2023
Canada is conducting a national security review of Chinese-owned TikTok’s proposed expansion of the popular video app in the country, the industry minister, François-Philippe Champagne, said on Friday.
In a teleconference from Italy after meeting with his G7 counterparts, Champagne said the review under the Investment Canada Act had been quietly initiated in September last year.
Continue reading...Revised corporate sustainability directive, first agreed in December, draws criticism from environmental campaigners
EU countries have slashed the scope of a law to make companies hunt down human rights abuse and environmental harm in their supply chains.
The EU’s corporate sustainability directive, which was agreed in December but nearly scuttled after a minor coalition partner in the German government withdrew its support, was approved by member states on Friday after a month-long search for compromise and further lobbying from France and Italy.
Continue reading...Longtime Russian leader faces no meaningful opposition after death in Arctic penal colony of Alexei Navalny
Voters in Russia headed to the polls across the country’s 11 time zones on Friday in a three-day presidential election that is all but certain to extend Vladimir Putin’s 24-year rule until at least 2030.
The longtime Russian leader is facing no meaningful opposition after the Russian authorities barred two candidates who had voiced their opposition to the war in Ukraine from running. Three other politicians running in the election do not directly question Putin’s authority and their participation is meant to add a facade of legitimacy to the race.
Continue reading...Day of mourning declared following devastating attack on Ukrainian port city; Bridget A Brink says ‘cruel attack’ shows Russia ‘will not stop’
Sergei Naryshkin, chief of Russia’s foreign intelligence service, said on Friday that French president Emmanuel Macron’s remarks about the possibility of sending soldiers from Nato countries to Ukraine were “crazy and paranoid dreams”, Reuters reports
Suspilne, Ukraine's state broadcaster, is reporting an explosion in Odesa. Regional governor Oleg Kiper has warned residents via Telegram to take shelter.
Continue reading...Scott McAfee rules Willis can continue case on Trump attempts to overturn 2020 election result if deputy steps down but says court cannot condone relationship
House speaker Mike Johnson has acknowledged that it is unclear if House Republican impeachment investigation into Joe Biden will disclose impeachable offenses.
Johnson admitted that “people have gotten frustrated” with the inquiry as he spoke to reporters on Wednesday.
I know that people have gotten frustrated sometimes that it’s [dragged] on too long. But in our constitutional system, that is the way it’s supposed to work.
Does it reach the ‘treason, high crimes and misdemeanor’ standard? Everyone will have to make that evaluation when we pull all the evidence together.
Continue reading...The 79-year-old actor who won a Golden Glove for his role as Oh II-nam on the hit Netflix show has been handed a suspended prison sentence
South Korean actor O Yeong-su, who starred in the first season of the hit Netflix series Squid Game, was convicted on Friday on charges of sexual harassment and handed a suspended prison sentence, a court official said.
The Seongnam branch of the Suwon district court sentenced O to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, as well as 40 hours of attendance at a sexual violence treatment programme, the court official said by telephone.
Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html.
Continue reading...The Boy and the Heron’s Oscar win has prompted debate over whether the 83-year-old could put down his pencil
It could have been the perfect send-off – recognition at the Academy Awards of the artistry of Japan’s peerless animator Hayao Miyazaki.
The moment The Boy and the Heron was named the winner of best animated feature in Los Angeles last weekend gave Japan a chance to reflect on Miyazaki’s towering influence, and contemplate whether the 83-year-old is truly finished making films.
Continue reading...Judge Scott McAfee allows Fulton county district attorney to continue as long as special prosecutor Nathan Wade resigns
A judge in Georgia has ruled that the district attorney Fani Willis can continue to head the prosecution of Donald Trump for trying to undermine the 2020 presidential election in the state, as long as a top deputy agreed to step down.
The deputy, special prosecutor Nathan Wade, with whom Willis had a romantic relationship, resigned on Friday, clearing the way for Willis to continue.
Continue reading...Deal between Japanese carmakers involves components and software amid race to catch up with Chinese EV firms
Honda and Nissan have put aside the “traditional approach” of fierce rivalry to join forces and work together on electric vehicle technology as Japan’s carmakers try to catch up with Chinese competitors.
The Japanese manufacturers will work together on technology for EVs, including components and software, after signing a memorandum of understanding on Friday.
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