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North Korea says Travis King wants refuge from mistreatment, racism in US

By Soo-hyang Choi and Josh Smith SEOUL (Reuters) -North Korea concluded that Travis King wants refuge there or in another country because of "inhuman maltreatment and racial discrimination" in the U.S. and the military, state media said on Wednesday, Pyongyang's first public acknowledgement of King's crossing from South Korea on July 18. A private in the U.S. Army, King dashed into the North while on a civilian tour of the Joint Security Area (JSA) on the heavily fortified border between the two Koreas. U.S. officials have said they believe King crossed the border intentionally, and have decli...

Canada's Northwest Territories declares emergency due to wildfires

By Nia Williams and Ismail Shakil OTTAWA (Reuters) -The government of Canada's Northwest Territories declared a state of emergency on Tuesday due to wildfires that have largely destroyed one remote community and are also posing a risk to territorial capital Yellowknife. The declaration gives authorities additional powers to respond to an emergency, and underscores the unparalleled damage wrought by blazes so far this year. "This allows the (government) to acquire and deploy the necessary resources to support the management of this unprecedented wildfire season, and protect the health and safet...

Ex-chief of FBI’s NYC counterintelligence division pleads guilty to helping sanctioned Russian oligarch find dirt on enemies

NEW YORK — Former chief of the FBI’s New York City counterintelligence division Charlie McGonigal pleaded guilty in Manhattan Tuesday to helping a sanctioned Russian oligarch find dirt on his enemies after his retirement. The former special agent in charge, who retired from the FBI in 2018 after a two-decade career that included Russian foreign counterintelligence work and investigating oligarchs, was arrested in January on charges in New York and Washington, D.C., alleging he worked for Russian President Vladimir Putin associate and aluminum tycoon Oleg Deripaska after his retirement. The fed...

Ousted Nigerien president's party slams junta's treason charges

The party of ousted President Mohamed Bazoum has rejected the charges of treason brought against him by the coup leaders. The accusations against Bazoum are a childish and grotesque fabrication of lies that have no basis in facts, the Nigerien Party for Democracy and Socialism (PNDS) party said on Tuesday. It called on its supporters and "all democrats" to demonstrate. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) threatened violence if the president were not to be reinstated, calling the announcement a "new form of provocation." Niger's new military rulers have announced that Bazoum ...

Iran re-arrests reporter who interviewed Mahsa Amini's father: activists

Iranian authorities have re-arrested a journalist who interviewed the father of the woman whose custody death sparked months of protests, just two days after her release from jail, activists said on Tuesday

Nazila Maroufian walked out of Tehran's Evin prison on Sunday, posting on social media a picture of herself without a headscarf in defiance of the Islamic republic's strict dress code for women.

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Algeria withdraws 'Barbie' from local cinemas

Algeria has withdrawn the film "Barbie" from its cinemas for reportedly breaching morals, joining a growing number of Arab countries barring the global box office hit. Barbie, which has topped $1.2 billion in worldwide revenues, was released in Algeria on July 19 before cinemas removed it from their schedules on Sunday without explanation.

The film's distributor in the North African country also announced its removal without saying why.

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Two years on from Taliban takeover, Afghan women pay the price

Afghanistan's Taliban government was set Tuesday to mark the second anniversary of their takeover of the country with a military parade in the movement's birthplace, as well as other celebrations of their surge back to power, which has resulted in dramatic reversals on women's rights.

Flags of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan – the name given to the country by its new rulers – fluttered at security checkpoints across the capital, which fell on August 15, 2021, when the US-backed government collapsed and its leaders fled into exile.

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Russia's rouble rises ahead of central bank extraordinary meeting

MOSCOW (Reuters) - The Russian rouble rose on Tuesday as investors bet the central bank would hike rates at an extraordinary policy meeting after the Russian currency tumbled past 101 per U.S. dollar on Monday and prompted a Kremlin call for tougher monetary policy. The rouble, which has lost nearly a quarter of its value against the dollar since the Ukraine war began, rose to 96.40 per dollar at 0530 GMT after falling close to 102 in intraday trade on Monday. Russia's central bank will hold an extraordinary meeting at on Tuesday to discuss the level of its key interest rate, currently at 8.5%...

Freedom on horizon for El Chapo’s cocaine supplier, who became a star witness at drug lord’s trial

NEW YORK — El Chapo’s cocaine supplier, whose testimony helped seal the famed drug lord’s fate, got one step closer to freedom Monday when a judge sentenced him to 20 years — most of which he’s already served. Colombian drug lord Juan Carlos Ramírez Abadía will likely be out of prison within a year, after Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Brian Cogan handed down the sentence. The 60-year-old cartel leader, who was arrested in Brazil in 2007 and extradited to the U.S. a year later had originally signed a cooperation agreement in exchange for a 25-year prison term — but that was before anyone realize...

Human Rights Watch: ‘Urgent action needed to address extreme levels of violence‘ in Haiti

As deadly gang violence unfolds against another Port-au-Prince neighborhood and another police officer lost his life trying to help the public fend off armed attacks, Human Rights Watch is calling on the international community to act urgently to support Haiti in overcoming its security crisis and ensuring a transition to democracy. The call from the international rights group comes as United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres is due to present options to the Security Council on how to fight Haiti’s criminal groups and as the government of Kenya prepares to send a team to New York and ...

At least 24 killed in India after heavy rains

At least 24 people were killed, nine of them in a temple collapse, and dozens more were feared missing after intense rains caused floods and landslides in India, officials said Monday.

Days of torrential downpours have washed away vehicles, demolished buildings and destroyed bridges in the northern states of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

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Trump admirer who believes climate crisis is a 'socialist lie' wins Argentina primary

Javier Milei, an admirer of former U.S. President Donald Trump who believes climate change is a "socialist lie" and wants to impose extreme austerity on Argentina's economy, won the Latin American nation's presidential primary on Sunday with just over 30% of the vote.

The surprise result makes Milei—a self-described "anarcho-capitalist"—the slight frontrunner for the October general election, a high-stakes contest for a nation beset by economic turmoil and political crises. The country's inflation rate is currently above 115% and nearly 40% of the population lives in poverty.

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Hong Kong democracy leaders cleared of organizing 2019 protest

Seven of Hong Kong's most prominent democracy figures, including media tycoon Jimmy Lai, were cleared Monday of the charge of organizing a massive rally in 2019.

While the appeals court struck down one conviction, it upheld another, for participating in the August 18 demonstration, which drew an estimated 1.7 million people -- one of the largest gatherings during the height of democracy protests that have since been crushed by Beijing.

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