World

Cuba’s economic crisis is worse than after fall of the Soviet Union, economists warn

Cuba, which for decades was one of the largest exporters of sugar in the world, now has to import sugar to meet its domestic demand. Six decades after the Cuban Revolution, the country is again undergoing a severe economic crisis, this time worse than the infamous “Special Period” in the 1990s, as the economic downturn that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union is known. But Cuba is also experiencing a boom in private enterprise, a contrasting reality fueling more inequality, economists gathered in Miami to analyze the situation on the island said. “The economic crisis in Cuba that started...

Assassination of presidential candidate shocks Ecuador

By Alexandra Valencia QUITO (Reuters) - The assassination of Ecuadorean presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio shocked the South American country, where rising drug-related violence is a major concern for voters, leading some of his rivals to suspend campaigning. Villavicencio, a vocal critic of corruption and organized crime, was killed on Wednesday during an evening campaign event in northern Quito. A suspect in the crime later died of injuries sustained in a shoot-out and six others have so far been arrested, the attorney general's office said. Nine people, including a candidate for ...

After rise in climate direct action, Europe cracks down

By Riham Alkousaa and Juliette Jabkhiro BERLIN (Reuters) - Simon Lachner had plans to glue himself to a German city thoroughfare in June to call public attention to climate change. Instead, he ended up in police custody before he'd even left his home. Lachner, 28, is one of thousands of activists caught up in a European crackdown on a wave of direct action protests that gathered pace last year demanding urgent government action against climate change. Roadblocks on major motorways in Britain have caused traffic chaos, protests at oil installations in Germany have disrupted supplies, and in Fra...

US military mission in Niger in focus after coup: analysis

By Idrees Ali and Daphne Psaledakis WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Last month's coup in Niger has raised questions over whether the United States can continue the 1,100-strong military presence in the country that officials and analysts say has been key to fighting Islamist militants in the Sahel region. Over the past decade, U.S. troops have trained Nigerien forces in counterterrorism and operated two military bases, including one that conducts drone missions against Islamic State and an Al Qaeda affiliate in the region. After ousting President Mohamed Bazoum from office on July 26 and placing him un...

Italian government's raid on banks undermined by confusion

By Angelo Amante and Valentina Za ROME (Reuters) -A drive to shore up its political base and appeal to the less well off lay behind the Italian government's decision to impose a windfall tax on banks but its clumsy handling could do more harm than good by shaking investor confidence. A market rout prompted a hasty clarification on the one-off 40% bank levy, which the government later said would be capped at 0.1% of bank assets in line with European Union recommendations. The Treasury expects to draw less than 3 billion euros ($3.3 billion) from the measure, sources have said, or roughly 3% of ...

Japan ex-PM Aso's 'fight for Taiwan' remark in line with official view, lawmaker says

By Kantaro Komiya TOKYO (Reuters) - Former Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso's remark on Tuesday that his country must show "the resolve to fight" to defend Taiwan from attack was in line with Tokyo's official stance, a lawmaker close to Aso told a TV show late on Wednesday. Aso, vice president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), said in Taipei that Japan, the United States and others must show strong resolve to come to Taiwan's defence if it were attacked, signalling deterrence against China. Aso's speech angered China, which claims Taiwan as its territory. A Chinese foreign ministry...

Iraq outlaws term ‘homosexuality,’ media must use ‘sexual deviance’ instead

Iraq is banning the term “homosexuality,” saying media companies must instead use the term “sexual deviance,” after a document from the Arab state’s media regulator was published this week. The restriction comes from The Iraqi Communications and Media Commission, and extends to all phone and internet companies and their mobile applications, reports Reuters. Media organizations have been directed “not to use the term ‘homosexuality’ and to use the correct term ‘sexual deviance,’” the statement said. In recent months, Shi’ite Muslim factions in the country have expressed their condemnation of th...

Russia says drones targeting Moscow downed as Ukraine city hit

Moscow (AFP) - Two Ukrainian combat drones headed for Moscow were shot down Wednesday in the latest targeting of the capital this week, Russian officials said, while Ukraine said a strike killed two people in the southern frontline city of Zaporizhzhia. Zaporizhzhia, a key city on the Dnipro River, lies some 44 kilometres (27 miles) from the frontline. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky had initially announced on social media that at least three people had been killed in the strike. His post was accompanied by a video showing a partially damaged church with fire in its courtyard and smoke...

Eleven dead in fire at French holiday home for disabled people

Eleven people were found in the debris after a fire broke out at a holiday lodge for adults with disabilities in the French town of Wintzenheim, Nathalie Kielwasser, deputy public prosecutor of the nearby city of Colmar, said on Wednesday. Earlier, 10 people with disabilities and a caregiver had gone missing after the fire in a remote district of Wintzenheim. It was not known whether the people had difficulty getting out of the house because of their disability, Kielwasser said. The fire in the holiday accommodation had broken out on Wednesday morning at around 6:30 am (0430 GMT). At the time,...

41 migrants missing after new Mediterranean shipwreck

Forty-one migrants including three children are feared dead after being shipwrecked last week in the Mediterranean, UN agencies said, citing four survivors brought to the Italian island of Lampedusa on Wednesday. Their metal boat overturned in bad weather during the night of Thursday to Friday after setting off from the Tunisian port of Sfax, said a joint statement from the UN agencies for refugees, children and migration. The survivors – a 13-year-old boy on his own, a woman and two men – drifted for days before being rescued by a merchant ship on Tuesday, they said. They were finally brought...

Ukraine denies Russian allegation it tried to attack Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

KYIV (Reuters) - A senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy denied a Russian assertion on Wednesday that Kyiv had tried to attack the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) with a drone. Europe's largest nuclear plant is currently offline, under Russian control in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, near the front line of Russia's conflict with Kyiv. The Russian state news agency RIA had cited Russian security forces, without naming any specific source, as saying Ukraine had tried to attack a spent nuclear fuel storage facility at the plant with a strike drone, which had been forc...

WHO tracking new EG.5 coronavirus variant spreading in U.K. and U.S.

(Reuters) - The World Health Organization is currently tracking several coronavirus variants, including the EG.5 variant that is spreading in the U.S. and U.K., Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Wednesday.

"The risk remains of a more dangerous variant emerging that could cause a sudden increase in cases and deaths," Tedros said, adding that the agency is publishing a risk evaluation report on it today.

Hiroshima survivor remembers atomic bomb attack on 78th anniversary

Satoshi Tanaka was a baby living with his family on the outskirts of Hiroshima when the world’s first atomic bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945. By the end of the year, the nuclear weapon had killed an estimated 140,000 people living in the city. Among the dead were nearly all of Tanaka’s maternal family.

Like many other survivors, the 78-year-old grandfather has suffered long-term health problems due to radiation exposure.

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