German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Friday dissolved the country’s lower house of parliament to pave the way for snap elections on February 23 following the collapse of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s three-way coalition. “Especially in difficult times, like now, stability requires a government capable of acting, and reliable majorities in parliament,” which was why early elections were the right way forward ...
The signs point to a Russian system striking Azerbaijan Airlines flight J2-8243 before it crashed near the city of Aktau, the US official said Thursday. This is the first time the US has offered an assessment of Wednesday’s crash, which killed at least 38 of the 67 people aboard the plane. If the early indications are ultimately confirmed, it may ...
Staff at a hospital in northern Gaza say the building has been surrounded by Israeli forces and they are being ordered to evacuate along with all patients, after reports of a nearby airstrike that the local health ministry said killed about 50 people. Israeli forces “are besieging Kamal Adwan Hospital and issuing orders for its evacuation,” hospital director Dr. Hussam ...
At least 10 people were killed and several wounded when a Nigerian military fighter jet pursuing bandits in two villages mistakenly bombed civilians in the northwestern state of Sokoto on Wednesday, the state governor Ahmed Aliyu said. “The military jets were on their mission to eliminate criminal armed groups terrorizing the state, and mistakenly bombed innocent people of this community,” ...
King Charles III has used his Christmas message to hail the efforts of healthcare workers and all those who support others, praising the medical staff who provided “strength, care and comfort” during his and the Princess of Wales’ cancer treatments. In his third Christmas address, the 76-year-old British sovereign spoke of how “all of us go through some form of ...
Perched high atop Corcovado Mountain, Christ the Redeemer is more than a religious symbol or tourist attraction — it’s an enduring icon of Brazilian identity. The Cristo Redentor, as Brazilians call it, is a postcard not only for the city of Rio de Janeiro but for the entire country. The statue’s wide-open arms, spanning 92 feet, seem to personally welcome ...
A newborn baby froze to death in a tent encampment in Al-Mawasi, in southern Gaza, on Wednesday, highlighting the stark challenges to survival faced by Palestinian children displaced from their homes amid Israel’s ongoing assault on the strip. Sela Mahmoud Al-Fasih “froze to death from the extreme cold” in Al-Mawasi, Dr. Munir Al-Bursh, the director general of the Ministry of ...
Saudi Arabia executed 330 people this year, the highest number in decades, despite de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman’s 2022 assertion that the death penalty had been eliminated except for murder cases under his vision for a new open kingdom. The country is spending billions to transform its reputation for strict religious restrictions and human rights abuses into that of ...
Families and relatives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza lit the first candle of Hanukkah on Wednesday, marking the start of the second such holiday without their loved ones, according to a statement from the Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters. Thousands of people attended a silent protest led by Shift 101 on Wednesday, which aims to put pressure on ...
A prison riot in Mozambique’s capital Maputo left 33 people dead and 15 injured, the country’s police general commander Bernardino Rafael said on Wednesday. About 1,534 people escaped from the prison in the incident but 150 of them have now been recaptured, Rafael said. Mozambique is experiencing escalating civil unrest linked to October’s disputed election, which extended long-ruling party Frelimo’s ...