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UK and EU on the cusp of Northern Ireland Brexit deal but concerns remain

By William James LONDON (Reuters) -Britain is on the cusp of a deal with the European Union to tackle trade and political disruption in Northern Ireland caused by Brexit, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said on Sunday, but it is unclear whether that will satisfy eurosceptic critics. More than a year of stop-start and sometimes rancorous negotiations between London and Brussels on an overhaul of the 2020 EU exit deal look to be coming to a conclusion, perhaps as early as Monday, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak saying he was "giving it everything" to get a deal done. "We're on the cusp, we've...

Body parts of missing model Abby Choi found in Hong Kong, ex-husband and family arrested

Four people were arrested for the murder and dismemberment of model and influencer Abby Choi after parts of her body were found in a Hong Kong rental unit, local police said Saturday. Choi’s ex-husband, 28-year-old Alex Kwong, was arrested early Saturday afternoon at a ferry terminal on the northwestern coast of Lantau Island, Hong Kong. He was carrying 500,000 Hong Kong dollars in cash (approximately $63,700) and several luxury watches worth about HK$4 million ($510,000), according to The South China Morning Post. Investigators believe he was trying to flee Hong Kong when arrested. Kwong’s pa...

UK, EU inching towards Northern Ireland protocol deal - Irish PM

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Britain and the European Union are inching towards concluding talks on revising post-Brexit trade rules for Northern Ireland and an agreement is possible, but by no means guaranteed, in the coming days, Ireland's prime minister said on Saturday. "I think the talks on reforming the (Northern Ireland) protocol are inching towards a conclusion. Certainly the deal isn't done yet, but I do think we are inching towards a conclusion," Leo Varadkar told reporters. "There is the possibility of agreement in the next few days but by no means guaranteed ... There's still a gap to be clo...

'French Oscars' reward femicide film but criticized for no women up for best director

The lack of women nominees was a talking point on Friday at the Cesar Awards, France's answer to the Oscars, despite the top prize going to a film focusing on femicide.

Best Film went to "The Night of the 12th", a thriller based on the true story of a young woman's murder.

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Philippine protesters celebrate 'People Power' ousting of Marcos Sr

Philippine protesters rallied on Saturday to mark the 37th anniversary of the "People Power" revolution, which ousted President Ferdinand Marcos Jr's dictator father and sent the family into exile.

It was the first commemoration of the uprising since Marcos Jr took office in June 2022. He has praised his father's 20-year regime, which critics describe as a dark period of human rights abuses and corruption that left the country impoverished.

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Jill Biden visits Kenya to shine light on worst drought in decades

US First Lady Jill Biden arrived in Kenya on Friday, kicking off a visit aimed at focusing attention on the worst drought to hit the Horn of Africa in decades.

Five straight seasons of poor rainfall have killed millions of livestock, destroyed crops and left some 22 million people at risk of hunger in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, with a sixth season also forecast to fail.

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How a primary school saved the Manx language from extinction

UNESCO declared Manx Gaelic extinct in 2009. Years later, a letter from a primary school on the Isle of Man proved them wrong, so the organisation took a step back and set up a new category: revitalised languages.

When 97-year-old fisherman Ned Maddrell died in 1974, his native language, Manx Gaelic, died with him. At least, that's what UNESCO believed when they declared the language extinct in 2009.

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'Where is the money?' Inflation and cash crisis hit hard as Nigeria goes to the polls

On a normal day, Balogun Market in Nigeria's Lagos is packed with shoppers looking for a bargain on anything from clothes, to freshly cooked street food or cut-price electronics.

But, as Nigerians head to the polls for Saturday's presidential election, although the aroma of spices and the cacophony of hawkers selling their wares still filled the air, there is barely a customer in sight.

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One year after Russia invasion, Zelensky eyes victory for Ukraine

People in Bucha, where Russian troops are accused of having committed atrocities, joined Friday's ceremonies

Kyiv (Ukraine) (AFP) - President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed Friday to do everything to defeat Russia this year, as the first Leopard tanks arrived in Ukraine on the anniversary of the start of Europe's largest conflict since World War II.

Street protests against the Russian invasion were held in many European capitals to mark the anniversary, and fresh Western sanctions targeted Russia's banks, military industry and semiconductor access.

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MAGA Republicans’ 'creepy' Putin fixation makes them look like 'losers' — not 'tough guys': Krugman

When President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Monday, February 20 and expressed his solidarity with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, The Lincoln Project’s Rick Wilson — a Never Trump conservative and former GOP strategist — praised Biden’s "alpha move" and slammed MAGA Republicans for not being on "the right side of history." Wilson is a scathing critic of the MAGA movement, and the affinity that so many MAGA Republicans have for Russian President Vladimir Putin is one of the reasons why he holds Trumpism in such low regard.

It was a year ago, on February 24, 2022, that Russian forces acting on orders from Putin launched a full-fledged invasion of Ukraine. That war has brought the worst fighting in Europe since World War 2, yet Putin's admirers in the MAGA movement haven't soured on him. They view Putin as a symbol of the type of nationalist machismo that, as they see it, the American left and non-MAGA conservatives lack.

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Taiwan warns aviation authorities after balloon sighting

Taiwan's military said it alerted aviation authorities after spotting a balloon floating in its airspace Friday, one week after the self-ruled island found remnants of what was believed to be a crashed Chinese meteorological instrument.

According to its initial analysis, the air force said the object in "northern airspace" on Friday afternoon was for meteorological and scientific research purposes.

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Worst-ever February rainforest data for Brazilian Amazon

Brazilian Amazon deforestation reached its worst-ever February level in the second month of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's presidential term, provisional data showed Friday.

Surveillance satellites had detected 209 square kilometers (80.6 square miles) of forest destroyed,, according to the INPE space research institute's DETER monitoring system.

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Pigs called in to deep-clean Champagne vineyards

Villagers in Cramant in France's Champagne are being treated to a rare sight: little pigs grubbing around the vines that produce the region's famed bubbly, an alternative to chemical or mechanical means of fighting weeds and pests.

Originally from New Zealand, the "kunekune" pigs -- a Maori word meaning "round and fat" -- snuffle through the earth supporting neatly planted rows of grapevines.

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