International

Peruvian President Dina Boluarte has insisted she will not step down, after another day of protests and roadblocks across the country saw calls for her resignation and the arrest of a trade union leader with alleged links to Maoist rebels.Supporters of ousted president Pedro Castillo have marched and barricaded streets throughout the South American country since December, demanding new elections and the removal of Boluarte as president.“Some voices that have come from the violent and radical factions are asking for my resignation, provoking the population into chaos, disorder and destruction,” Boluarte said in an address on state TV on Friday night. “I will not resign. My commitment is with Peru.”She lamented that the protests have at times turned violent, as at least 42 people have been killed in clashes with security forces, including a police officer burned alive in a vehicle.Hundreds more have been injured.“I cannot stop reiterating my regret for the deaths of Peruvians in these protests,” she said. “I apologise for this situation.”However, she rejected the possibility of calling a constitutional assembly as demanded by protesters, pointing to the difficulties Peru’s neighbour Chile has had in drafting and approving a new constitution.“That cannot happen overnight,” Boluarte added.Earlier on Friday – the 10th consecutive day of unrest, after a new-year lull – police announced the arrest of Rocio Leandro, a union leader from the Ayacucho region.Leandro, who has alleged links to Maoist rebels, is accused of financing protests and recruiting demonstrators.Police spokesman Oscar Arriola claimed his arrest proved that remnants of the Shining Path Maoist rebels were involved in the protests.He said Leandro was a former Shining Path member known as “Comrade Cusi”.The head of US diplomacy for Latin America, Brian Nichols, wrote on Twitter that Washington is “deeply concerned about ongoing violence in Peru & saddened by the injuries & deaths”.“We support peace on all sides & the govt’s stated commitments to address the challenges gripping the country,” he added.The head of a delegation from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Guatemalan lawyer Stuardo Ralon, called for an “impartial and effective” investigation into allegations of excessive force by authorities.He also noted “a strong stigmatisation by racial and regional ethnic factors, particularly in the messages reproduced by some authorities who have referred with generalisations towards all indigenous and peasant people as terrorists”.Protesters blocked roads in the capital Lima, and in several regions in the historically marginalised south.A protest in the border city of Tacna, 1,200km (750 miles) southeast of Lima, led neighbour Chile to temporarily close the crossing between the two countries.The city of Arequipa in the south – the second-largest in the country and one of Peru’s main tourist hotspots – had been practically blocked off from all transport links with the neighbouring regions of Cusco and Puno.Several regional governors and professional associations, including lawyers and teachers, joined the calls for Boluarte to resign.“How many more deaths will Dina Boluarte’s presence in the presidency cost?” asked Puno governor Richard Hancco, whose area has become the epicentre of clashes between protesters and security forces.That region, close to the border with Bolivia, was where 18 people died following violent clashes on Monday night.Opposition legislator Susel Paredes told local radio that time was running out for Boluarte and that the resignation of labour minister Eduardo Garcia on Thursday was “the beginning of the end” for the president.Two other ministers resigned on Friday: the heads of the interior ministry and the ministry of women.Peru has been riddled with political instability in recent years.Boluarte, 60, is the sixth person to hold the presidency in five years.Castillo, who was being investigated in several fraud cases during his tenure, has been remanded in custody for 18 months, charged with rebellion.Peru’s attorney-general has launched 11 inquiries to identify those responsible for the deaths during some of the country’s most violent social protests in years, her office said on Friday.The office of Attorney-General Patricia Benavides announced that the investigations are focused on the clashes between demonstrators and security forces in the heavily indigenous southern regions of Puno, Cusco, Arequipa, Apurimac and Ucayali, as well as the capital Lima.This week, Benavides opened a preliminary “genocide” investigation against President Boluarte and several ministers.Benavides’ office said 355 civilians and 176 police officers have been injured, with 329 citizens arrested, all linked to the anti-government street protests since Castillo’s removal

Thousands of workers held rallies in Indonesia’s capital Jakarta yesterday, urging parliament to reject a presidential decree that critics say would erode employees’ rights and environmental protections.President Joko Widodo issued the emergency decree last month, replacing a controversial jobs law in southeast Asia’s largest economy, a move some legal experts say violated a court ruling.The Constitutional Court had ruled the 2020 Jobs Creation Law was flawed, saying there had been insufficient public consultation before the law was passed. It ordered lawmakers to complete a renewed process by November.Protester Damar Panca Mulia, 38, called the decree a government ploy to ensure the implementation of the job law. “This regulation degrades worker’s welfare, reduces labour protections and causes widespread damage - on agrarian issues, the environment, protection of women,” he said. “Job creation should be in line with workers’ welfare improvement, but this decree runs counter to it. That’s why we oppose it.”Protesters held a banner saying “Say no to outsourcing”, while others had signs reading, “Refuse job creation emergency decree because there is no emergency situation”.Joko Heriono, 59, said the regulation created uncertainty for workers as they could easily be fired and would get lower severance pay. Labour party chairman Said Iqbal said outsourcing and minimum wage regulation in the decree were among the issues of concern. “We don’t want the state to become only an agent for dirty entrepreneurs to weaken workers’ welfare,” Said told reporters.The Jobs Creation Law, revising more than 70 other laws, had been welcomed by foreign investors for cutting red tape. Parliament will assess the legal standing of the decree in the current sitting, its deputy speaker said this week.Last week, a group of Indonesians asked the Constitutional Court to carry out a judicial review of the regulation.

Ukraine reported a fresh wave of Russian attacks yesterday including hits on a residential block and key infrastructure facilities, as Britain became the first Western country to offer the heavy tanks Kyiv has long sought to counter the onslaught.The British move drew a swift reaction from Moscow which warned it would only “intensify” the conflict.Russia on Friday claimed to have captured the ravaged eastern town of Soledar following a long battle.Victory in Soledar would be a rare achievement for Moscow after an embarrassing series of military setbacks — although Kyiv insisted fighting was still ongoing in the town.Yesterday morning, Ukrainian infrastructure was again under fire, officials said.The Old New Year, a popular holiday in Ukraine, began “with a missile attack on the capital and ends with a massive shelling of the whole of Ukraine,” said the country’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets.In the major eastern city of Dnipro, an apartment building was targeted, he said. “The whole entrance was destroyed. There are people under the rubble.”Another Ukraine official said that at least five people were killed and another 27 injured in the attack on the nine-storey residential building.Energy facilities operator Ukrenergo said it was working on “eliminating the consequences” of fresh Russian strikes on its infrastructure.In Kyiv, AFP journalists heard several explosions, while Ukrainian officials reported strikes on a power facility.“There is a hit to an infrastructure facility, without critical destruction or fire,” the Kyiv city administration said.A fire broke out in a warehouse after fragments of a rocket fell, it said, adding there were no reported casualties in the capital.In the northeastern Kharkiv region, “the enemy launched another missile attack on critical infrastructure and industrial facilities,” Governor Oleg Synegubov said.Emergency blackouts were applied in “most regions” of Ukraine due to the fresh barrage of attacks, Energy Minister German Galushchenko said yesterday.Attacks were also reported in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.Russian attacks killed three people on Friday, the deputy head of presidency Kyrylo Tymoshenko said.British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak yesterday pledged to provide Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, making it the first Western country to supply the heavy tanks Kyiv has been calling for.Sunak said the tanks were a sign of the UK’s “ambition to intensify our support to Ukraine”, according to a readout of a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.The Russian embassy in the UK swiftly issued a warning that “bringing tanks to the conflict zone, far from drawing the hostilities to a close, will only serve to intensify combat operations, generating more casualties, including among the civilian population”.There was uncertainty about the fate of Soledar, a salt mining outpost that Russia claimed to have captured, which Kyiv denies.Both sides have conceded heavy losses in the battle for the town, with Moscow desperate to sell any win back home after repeated humiliations and Ukraine determined to hold — and win back — ground.On an icy road near Soledar yesterday, AFP journalists saw Ukrainian medics tending to the wounded brought from the nearby frontline.The Russian defence ministry on Friday announced it had “completed the liberation” of Soledar the previous day and pledged more “successful offensive operations” in the eastern Donetsk region.In a separate statement, it praised the “courageous and selfless” forces of mercenary group Wagner for storming Soledar.The nod was an unusual recognition of the controversial force following talk of infighting and rivalry between Wagner and the official military.But regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said on national television yesterday that “Soledar is controlled by Ukrainian authorities, our military controls it.”He added that “battles continue in and outside of the city”.The industrial town with a pre-war population of about 10,000 has now been reduced to rubble through intense fighting.Zelensky said “the difficult battle for Donetsk region continues, the battle for Bakhmut and Soledar... continues, although the enemy has concentrated its greatest forces in this direction.”Capturing Soledar could improve the position of Russian forces as they push towards what has been their main target since October — the nearby transport crossroads of Bakhmut.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg condemned moves to demolish a German village to make way for a coal mine expansion as police clashed with demonstrators at the site yesterday.Crowds of activists marched on the hamlet of Luetzerath in western Germany, waving banners, chanting and accompanied by a brass band.On the sidelines, there were tense standoffs and scuffles in the pouring rain, between some protesters and police.Luetzerath — deserted for some time by its original inhabitants — is being razed to make way for the extension of the adjacent open-cast coal mine, one of the largest in Europe, operated by energy firm RWE.Thunberg marched at the front of a procession of demonstrators who converged on the village, showing support for activists occupying it in protest.“That the German government is making deals and compromises with fossil fuel companies such as RWE, is shameful,” she said from a podium.“Germany, as one of the biggest polluters in the world, has an enormous responsibility,” she added.AFP saw some protesters clash with police trying to move the march away from Luetzerath, which has been fenced off.Local media reported stones being thrown at police and one protester was seen with a head injury, as ambulance sirens sounded near the protest site.Police said activists had smashed protective barriers near the huge coal mine and entered the mine site.“The police barriers have been broken,” the police tweeted. “To the people in front of Luetzerath: get out of this area immediately.”“Some people have entered the mine. Move away from the danger zone immediately!”In an operation launched earlier this week, hundreds of police have been removing activists from the hamlet.In just a few days, a large part of the protesters’ camp has been cleared by police, and its occupants evacuated.German press, quoting the police, reported that around 470 activists had been removed from the village since the beginning of the evacuation.But between 20 and 40 were still holed up in the contested village late Friday, a spokeswoman for the protest movement said. Officials said they were entering the final stages of evacuating the activists. Demolition works were progressing slowly on those buildings that had been emptied, while surrounding trees had been felled as part of the clearance.The village has become a symbol of resistance to fossil fuels.Police reinforcements have come from across the country to participate in the forced evacuation.Meanwhile AFP saw protesters arriving in buses, holding banners with slogans including “Stop coal” and “Luetzerath lives!”Organisers said 35,000 people attended the demonstration.In the village, many of the activists have built structures high up in the trees, while others have climbed to the top of abandoned buildings and barns.Activists said they had also dug a tunnel under the hamlet in a bid to complicate the evacuation effort.The movement has been supported by protest actions across Germany. On Friday, masked activists set fire to bins and painted slogans on the offices of the Greens in Berlin.The party — part of Germany’s ruling coalition with Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats and the liberal FDP — has come under heavy criticism from activists who accuse it of betrayal.Following the energy crisis set off by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the government has brought old coal power plants back online.Officials also signed a compromise deal with RWE that made way for the demolition of Luetzerath but spared five nearby villages.The energy firm also agreed to stop producing electricity with coal in western Germany by 2030, eight years earlier than previously planned.German Chancellor Olaf Sholz yesterday inaugurated a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminal at the northern port of Lubmin, on the Baltic coast.The plant is another part of the German plan to compensate for the loss of Russian gas imports.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Saturday said the UK will provide tanks to Ukraine to help Kyiv's forces "push Russian troops back".Sunak made the pledge to supply Challenger 2 tanks and additional artillery systems as a sign of the UK's "ambition to intensify our support to Ukraine", according to a readout of a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.The move makes the UK the first Western power to supply the Ukrainians with main battle tanks, the PA news agency said. France on January 4 said it would supply Kyiv with the French-made AMX-10 RC -- a light tank model.

China's health authorities on Saturday reported almost 60,000 Covid-related deaths in just over a month, the first major death toll released by the government since the loosening of its virus restrictions in early December.There were a total of 59,938 Covid-related deaths between December 8, 2022 and January 12 this year, Jiao Yahui, head of the Bureau of Medical Administration under the National Health Commission, told a press conference.

Explosions resonated in several Ukrainian regions on Saturday morning including the capital Kyiv, as officials reported strikes had hit key infrastructure."Missile attack on critical infrastructure facilities" in Kyiv, the Deputy Head of Presidency Kyrylo Tymoshenko said on Telegram.The city administration said an infrastructure facility had been hit.Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko reported explosions in the Dniprovskiy district and urged residents to "stay in shelters!".Fragments of a rocket fell in the city's Golosiivskiy district without causing any casualties, Klitschko added.In the northeastern Kharkiv region, "the enemy launched another missile attack on critical infrastructure and industrial facilities," governor Oleg Synegubov said.There could be emergency power cuts in the city of Kharkiv, the second largest in Ukraine, and in the surrounding region, Synegubov warned.Attacks were also reported in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.The head of the central region of Cherkasy Igor Taburets said that "the enemy is attacking the territory of Ukraine again" and that he expected large-scale alerts around midday.Since October following a series of military setbacks in Ukraine, Moscow has switched to systematically targeting critical infrastructures.Energy providers have been racing to repair the power grid as winter deepens.

A beloved Hong Kong radio host dubbed the "world's most durable DJ" by Guinness World Records has died aged 98 after more than seven decades on the air.Reinaldo Maria Cordeiro, known to fans as "Uncle Ray", was hailed as an industry powerhouse who jump-started the careers of numerous local musicians and introduced pop trends to generations of Hong Kong fans on his long-running radio shows.He interviewed scores of pop icons over the years including the Beatles, the Bee Gees, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra.Cordeiro died on Friday in Hong Kong surrounded by family and friends, who sang "You'll Never Walk Alone" as a farewell, a committee organising his funeral said.The veteran DJ was "a prominent figure in Hong Kong popular culture" who made "considerable contributions to the Hong Kong music scene", the city's culture minister Kevin Yeung said Saturday.Born in Hong Kong in 1924, Cordeiro was the fifth of six children in a family descended from Portuguese immigrants.He worked as a prison warden and bank clerk before turning to music, hosting his first show "Progressive Jazz" at Radio Rediffusion in 1949.Cordeiro became a household name in the 1960s by hosting easy listening shows for Hong Kong's public broadcaster RTHK that became a hit with teenagers.His signature late-night programme "All The Way With Ray" launched in 1970 and became the station's longest-running radio show.He was named the "world's most durable DJ" by Guinness World Records in 2000.Cordeiro retired in 2021, telling RTHK that "I've had the best in life and I've had everything I wanted to be, everything I wanted to do".He reportedly had heart troubles over the past decade and was hospitalised last January after suffering a stroke.He wrote in his autobiography that "by sharing good music with my fans, I am in my element"."I refuse to countenance a world without music."

The president of this year's COP28 climate talks, who heads one of the world's biggest oil companies, on Saturday urged a focus on lower emissions, warning global energy needs were set to accelerate.Sultan Al Jaber, the United Arab Emirates' special envoy for climate change and CEO of the ADNOC oil giant, said less-polluting fossil fuels would remain part of the energy mix, along with renewables and other solutions."As long as the world still uses hydrocarbons, we must ensure they are the least carbon intensive possible," Al Jaber told the Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi, two days after his unveiling as COP president."We're working with the energy industry on accelerating decarbonisation, reducing methane and expanding hydrogen. Let's keep our focus on holding back emissions, not progress."The Gulf monarchy argues that oil remains indispensable to the global economy and is pushing the merits of carbon capture -- removing carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, as fuel is burned or from the air.Al Jaber said the UAE, which will host COP28 in Dubai in November and December, approached the task with "humility, a clear sense of responsibility and a great sense of urgency".He said the world's population, currently eight billion, was on course to reach 9.7 billion by 2050 and would need "50 percent more energy than what is available today"."We are way off track. The world is playing catch up when it comes to the key Paris goal of holding global temperatures down to 1.5 degrees (Celsius)," he said."And the harsh reality is that in order to achieve this goal, global emissions must fall 43 percent by 2030."Al Jaber said renewable energy needed to triple to 23 terawatt hours by 2030, while low-carbon hydrogen production had to double. He said agriculture produces one-third of global emissions and needed deep reform."We are at a turning point in history. Low carbon growth is the future, but we must get there much faster," he said.

Singer-songwriter Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of rock and roll legend Elvis Presley, died on Thursday hours after being hospitalised, her family said.She was 54.Presley, who led a tumultuous life in the sprawling shadow of her world-famous father, and who attended a high-profile awards ceremony just this week, had been rushed to a California hospital’s intensive care unit for cardiac arrest.“Priscilla Presley and the Presley family are shocked and devastated by the tragic death of their beloved Lisa Marie,” the family said in a statement. “They are profoundly grateful for the support, love and prayers of everyone, and ask for privacy during this very difficult time.”Priscilla Presley – Lisa Marie’s mother and the iconic crooner’s wife for six years until their divorce in 1973 – said in a statement to People magazine: “It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us.”News of the death triggered an immediate outpouring of grief from fans and famous friends.“Our hearts are broken with the sudden and shocking passing of Lisa Marie Presley tonight ... It’s too much,” said Rita Wilson and Tom Hanks, who starred in the recent biopic movie Elvis.“Lisa baby girl, I’m so sorry. I’ll miss you but I know I’ll see you again,” wrote actor John Travolta on Instagram.“It’s hard to take when someone so young and full of life passes on,” wrote Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson on Twitter. “I feel so bad about Lisa Marie and I wish the best for her children and her family.”Billy Corgan, frontman of the rock band Smashing Pumpkins, wrote on Instagram: “There is heartbreak and then there is sorrow. This would be sorrow and on more levels than I can count. Please send your prayers out for her family and children at this difficult time.”“I truly cannot find the words to express how sad this truly is,” the musician added.Presley was found “unresponsive” by her housekeeper at home Thursday morning in the celebrity-studded Los Angeles suburb of Calabasas, entertainment website TMZ reported.The Los Angeles County Fire Department, which runs paramedic services, told media that crews attended to a woman in her mid-50s suffering cardiac arrest just after 10.30am (1830 GMT), without confirming her identity.Presley’s ex-husband, Danny Keough, who also lives at the property, performed CPR until paramedics arrived and transported her to hospital, where she was put in an induced coma on life support, before passing, TMZ said.As recently as Tuesday, mother and daughter were seen together at the Golden Globe awards in Beverly Hills, where Austin Butler was awarded Best Actor in a drama for his turn as The King in Baz Luhrmann’s film Elvis.Butler, whose performance has earned wide praise, thanked the two women during his acceptance speech.“Thank you, guys. Thank you for opening your hearts, your memories, your home to me. Lisa Marie and Priscilla, I love you forever,” Butler said.Two nights before that, at a Los Angeles event thrown by Elvis studio Warner Bros, Presley gave a brief speech in which she said she was “overwhelmed by this film” and that her father would “be very proud”.Lisa Marie Presley was Elvis’s only child.She previously controlled Elvis Presley Enterprises, but sold the bulk of shares in the company to a private equity firm in 2005.She retained control of Graceland, the Memphis, Tennessee estate her father owned and where he was found unconscious in August 1977.Elvis was taken to a hospital but pronounced dead from a heart attack.Toxicology reports found high levels of prescription drugs in the late singer’s system.Lisa Marie released three albums this century, and is the mother of actor Riley Keough, who appeared in Mad Max: Fury Road.In addition to Danny Keough, whom she divorced in 1994, she has also been married to Nicolas Cage, Michael Jackson and actor-composer Michael Lockwood.She was left devastated following the death by suicide of her son Benjamin less than three years ago.

Russia said yesterday that its forces had taken control of Soledar in eastern Ukraine, in what would be a rare success for Moscow after months of battlefield reverses, but Kyiv said its troops were still fighting in the town.Reuters could not immediately verify the situation in Soledar, a small salt-mining town that has been the focus of relentless Russian assault for days.Kyiv and the West have played down the town’s significance, saying that Moscow sacrificed wave upon wave of soldiers and mercenaries in a pointless fight for a bombed-out wasteland, unlikely to affect the wider war except insofar as the huge losses have sapped manpower on both sides.However, the capture of the town has taken on an outsized importance as it would, if confirmed, give Moscow a trophy for one of the bloodiest campaigns of the war following major battlefield setbacks throughout the second half of 2022.“The capture of Soledar was made possible by the constant bombardment of the enemy by assault and army aviation, missile forces and artillery of a grouping of Russian forces,” Moscow’s defence ministry said.Seizing the town would make it possible to cut off Ukrainian supply routes to the larger nearby city of Bakhmut and trap remaining Ukrainian forces there, it said.Moscow has been trying to seize Bakhmut for months.However, Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesperson for Ukraine’s eastern military command, told Reuters by telephone that Soledar had not been captured: “Our units are there, the town is not under Russian control.”CNN said on its website that a reporting team just outside the town could hear mortar and rocket fire yesterday afternoon and saw Ukrainian forces ferrying troops in what appeared to be an organised pullback.A Ukrainian officer in the area also told Reuters by telephone that the Russians had not fully taken the town.“Last night artillery fire was like from hell, both sides. From what I know, our boys have managed to exit some parts (of Soledar) in an orderly manner and now (assault) groups are counterattacking, but we still hold the town.”Ukrainian officials said on Thursday that more than 500 civilians, including 15 children, were trapped inside Soledar.After Ukrainian forces drove Russia into humiliating retreats for much of the second half of 2022, the front lines have barely budged for the past two months.Meanwhile, the battles around Bakhmut and Soledar became what both sides called a “meat grinder” – a brutal war of attrition claiming the lives of thousands of soldiers.Both Bakhmut and Soledar are in the Donetsk region, which Russia unilaterally claimed to have annexed in September despite only partly occupying it.The capture of the entire region is widely seen as a Kremlin war objective.Kyiv’s Western allies, however, see it as a fight for marginal gains on a stretch of front where neither side can make a big breakthrough, a sideshow from battles further north and south, where Ukraine hopes to push through Russian lines.“Even if both Bakhmut and Soledar fall to the Russians, it’s not going to have a strategic impact on the war itself,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at the White House, “and it certainly isn’t going to stop the Ukrainians or slow them down.”Within Russia, victory in Soledar could boost ultra-nationalist mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose Wagner Group of fighters-for-hire, including convicts recruited from prison with promises of pardons, has focused on the fight in that area.He has griped as the regular military has taken credit for the Soledar battle without mentioning his fighters.Yesterday the defence ministry, which had not mentioned Wagner in its initial communication claiming to have captured Soledar, issued a second statement “to clarify” the situation.“As for the direct storming of Soledar’s city quarters occupied by the armed forces of Ukraine, this combat task was successfully accomplished by the courageous and selfless actions of volunteers from the Wagner assault detachments,” it said.In Siversk, a town north of Soledar that could be next in line for the Russian advance, artillery echoed around the battle-scarred buildings dotted with a few remaining residents and Ukrainian military personnel braving light snow and a freezing wind.Oleksandr Sirenko, who was chopping window frames and floors from destroyed flats into smaller pieces to store in the basement, said he did not want Kyiv’s troops to retreat.“You know, I’ve been afraid of many things in my life,” he told AFP. “We only hope they don’t retreat. We hope, we hope. We are afraid, but where should we go?”The new year has brought important pledges of extra Western weapons for Ukraine, which is seeking armour to mount mechanised battles against Russian tanks.Last week, France, Germany and the United States pledged to send armoured fighting vehicles.Yesterday Finland joined Poland in saying that it could send German-made Leopard tanks to Ukraine as part of a Western coalition apparently being put together to supply them.That requires the permission of Berlin, which has previously been hesitant but has lately signalled a willingness to allow it.Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the invasion on February 24, saying Kyiv’s ties with the West threatened Russia’s security, and Russia has since claimed to have annexed four Ukrainian provinces.Ukraine and its allies call it an unprovoked war to seize territory, and Kyiv says it will fight until it recaptures all its land.

Prince Harry left out revelations about his family in his memoir, saying that he did not want “the world to know because I don’t think they would ever forgive me,” according to an interview published by the Daily Telegraph yesterday.The prince told the UK broadsheet that he has enough material to write another book, mostly focused on his relationship with his brother Prince William and father King Charles III, in comments likely to further unsettle the royal family.“The first draft was different. It was 800 pages, and now it’s down to 400 pages,” he said of his book Spare.“It could have been two books, put it that way. And the hard bit was taking things out.”“There are some things that have happened, especially between me and my brother, and to some extent between me and my father, that I just don’t want the world to know. Because I don’t think they would ever forgive me,” he said.“Now you could argue that some of the stuff I’ve put in there, well, they will never forgive me anyway,” he added.The rogue prince said the media had a “tonne of dirt about my family” but that they “sweep it under the carpet for juicy stories about someone else”.After months of anticipation and a blanket publicity blitz, Harry’s book Spare went on sale on Tuesday as royal insiders hit back at his scorching revelations.In it, Harry details long-standing tension between himself and his brother, culminating in William, who is heir to the throne, knocking him to the floor during a 2019 argument over Harry’s American wife, Meghan.The royal family have maintained a studied silence as painful details from the book and a round of pre-publication TV interviews have piled up.In Spare, Harry portrays his father, 74, as emotionally crippled, the victim of brutal childhood bullying.However, among the many contradictions in the book, Harry also characterises the king as a doting father, who favours strong French aftershave and conducts headstands to alleviate polo-induced back pain.In his Telegraph interview, Harry said he was airing his grievances in public not to “collapse” the royal family but because he had a “responsibility” to reform it in order to protect William’s children.William, he said, “has made it very clear to me that his kids are not my responsibility”.The book comes on the back of the six-hour Netflix docuseries Harry & Meghan.A YouGov poll on Monday found that 64% of Britons now have a negative view of the once-popular prince – his lowest-ever rating – and that Meghan also scores dismally.They may also be straining public interest in Meghan’s homeland, according to the New York Times.“Even in the United States, which has a soft spot for royals in exile and a generally higher tolerance than Britain does for redemptive stories about overcoming trauma and family dysfunction, there is a sense that there are only so many revelations the public can stomach,” its former London correspondent Sarah Lyall wrote.

The US ambassador to Sudan has called on ex-rebels who were not part of an initial post-coup deal to join the talks aimed at restoring a transition to civilian rule. Military leaders and some civilian factions agreed last month on the first of a two-phase political process seeking to end the turmoil Sudan has been plunged into since a 2021 coup led by army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan. While the accord drew some international acclaim, opponents at home eyed it with scepticism, saying it falls short on specifics and timelines.“It is important to note that the process remains open for them to come in,” ambassador John Godfrey told AFP on Thursday, referring to key factions which refused to sign the agreement. Former rebel leader Mini Minnawi, governor of the restive Darfur region, slammed the deal as “exclusionary”. Finance Minister Gibril Ibrahim, also an ex-rebel leader who had signed a peace deal with Sudan’s short-lived transitional government, said it was “far from a national accord and does not lead to free and fair elections”. “Our understanding is that efforts continue to try to find a way to meet a situation where they feel that they could join the process,” Godfrey said.He spoke at the conclusion of the first round of talks in Khartoum over the second phase of the political process, focused mainly on negating the remnants of long-time autocrat Omar al-Bashir’s regime, ousted in 2019 in the face of mass protests. Another round of talks is expected in the coming weeks over key contentious issues including transitional justice, accountability and security reforms. Burhan’s coup, which derailed a fragile transition following Bashir’s ouster, triggered near-weekly demonstrations, with activists demanding a civilian government.More than 120 people have been killed in the crackdown on anti-coup demonstrations, according to pro-democracy medics. The coup has also deepened a spiralling economic crisis and heightened ethnic clashes in Sudan’s remote regions, which killed around 900 people last year, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The December preliminary deal brought together Burhan, paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo and multiple civilian groups - most notably the Forces for Freedom and Change, the main civilian bloc ousted in the 2021 military coup.The United Nations said the talks this week mark “another important step towards realising the aspirations of the Sudanese people for democracy, peace and sustainable development”.Godfrey expressed high hopes, saying it was “very clear” that negotiators were working towards restoring Sudan’s transition. Burhan has pledged the military would no longer be involved in politics once a civilian government is installed. The army chief has also expressed hope that international aid suspended since the coup would be restored.Ties between Washington and Khartoum were severely strained under Bashir’s three-decade rule, with crippling US sanctions imposed in 1993. Relations eased under Sudan’s now-ousted transitional government led by former premier Abdalla Hamdok. In August, Godfrey took the post as the first US ambassador to Sudan in nearly 25 years. Following the 2021 coup, the United States suspended $700mn in aid, but Godfrey said it has continued to provide “humanitarian” and “some development assistance”. “We have made it clear that until a new civilian-led government is in place in Sudan, we will not be in a position to restore the other lines of assistance.”

Chu Wenhong would fly back to Shanghai and visit her parents at least once a year after she moved to Singapore in 1994. But she hasn’t been able to do so in the past three years due to China’s signature zero-Covid policy, which involved mass PCR testing, city-wide lockdowns and quarantining all inbound arrivals, including overseas Chinese like Chu.The last time the 54-year-old lab worker visited her hometown was in November 2019, one month before the world’s first Covid outbreak was detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.But Chu snatched a ticket last month to fly back after China announced it would end quarantine on all inbound travellers from Jan 8, marking the final unravelling of the country’s zero-Covid policy. “Finally, I can go back. I have been waiting for this day for a long time,” Chu said from her Singapore home after packing her suitcase on Wednesday, the night before her flight.The removal of inbound quarantine prompted a surge in demand for plane tickets in countries like Singapore which have large communities of overseas Chinese. Singapore resident Chu paid S$2,264 (around $1,700) for a one way ticket to Shanghai, while a return journey used to cost her around S$600 before the pandemic. However, in the absence of a long quarantine, it was still a price she was willing to pay in order to spend with her family over the Lunar New Year holiday that starts on Jan 21.The holiday is especially important to Chinese families as it is often the only time of the year when relatives, distant and close, reunite and spend time with each other. China had imposed inbound quarantines on all arrivals from outside its borders since March 2020.The measure discouraged business travel into China and kept families separated for years, as it involved paying to stay inside a hotel room for two to three weeks. And even for those willing to endure the hotel quarantine, flights were often unavailable or overpriced as Beijing drastically cut the number of inbound flights in a bid to prevent imported Covid-19 cases.“China remained closed off after Singapore reopened, so to go back, people needed to do PCR tests, undergo quarantine, and prices of flight tickets skyrocketed. There were too many obstacles,” Chu said. China’s easing over the past month of one of the world’s tightest Covid regimes followed historic protests against a policy that included frequent testing, curbs on movement and mass lockdowns that heavily damaged the world’s second-biggest economy.Chu said she had missed her parents, her 83-year-old father and 78-year-old mother, and worried about their failing health.Her biggest wish was to spend as much time with them as possible when she goes back this time. “I haven’t seen them for three years, and they both got Covid, and are quite old. I feel quite lucky actually, as it wasn’t too serious for them, but their health is not very good. So I want to go home and see them as soon as possible,” she said.Chu said she felt exhilarated to be home soon after landing at the Shanghai Pudong Airport on Thursday. “I’m so happy because I’ve been looking forward to it for three whole years. I want to see my mother the most and take a good look at her,” she said.Her mother, Cao Yafang, was equally relieved after reuniting with her daughter. “She is pretty much the same as in the videochat. Now when I see her in person, my heart is more at ease.”

The United Nations on Thursday launched an appeal to raise funds to help 30 million severely malnourished children in countries affected by the food crisis.Five UN agencies confirmed in a joint statement that "more than 30 million children in the 15 most affected countries suffer from wasting - acute malnutrition - and eight million of these children suffer from severe wasting, the most fatal form of undernutrition."The appeal was issued by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO); the UN refugee agency, UNHCR; the UN Childrens Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Program (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).The skyrocketing food prices exacerbate food shortages and impede access to affordable basic foodstuffs. Conflicts, climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic have exacerbated the situation, according to the UN agencies.The action plan will include children under the age of five, pregnant and lactating women, and mothers and caregivers of children under five.

Tesla has slashed prices on its electric vehicles in the United States and Europe by as much as 20%, extending a strategy of aggressive discounting after missing Wall Street estimates for 2022 deliveries.The move, which prompted a 3.8% fall in Tesla's shares in Frankfurt, came after CEO Elon Musk warned that the prospect of recession and higher interest rates meant it could lower vehicle pricing to sustain volume growth at the expense of profit.The lower pricing across Tesla's major markets marks a reversal from the strategy the automaker had pursued through much of 2021 and 2022 when orders for new vehicles exceeded supply. Musk acknowledged last year that prices had become "embarrassingly high" and could hurt demand.The U.S. price cuts, announced late Thursday in U.S. time on the Model 3 sedan and Model Y crossover SUV, ranged between 6% and 20% compared with prices before the discount, according to Reuters calculations.That is before an up to $7,500 federal tax credit that took effect for many electric vehicle models at the start of January.Following is a table of the price cuts by model in Germany and the United States:Tesla also cut prices for its Model X luxury crossover SUV and Model S sedan in the United States.In Germany, it cut prices on the Model 3 and the Model Y - its global top-sellers - by between about 1% and almost 17% depending on the configuration. It also cut prices in Austria, Switzerland and France.For a U.S. buyer of the long-range Model Y, the new Tesla price combined with the U.S. subsidy that took effect this month amounts to a discount of 31%. In addition, the Tesla move broadened the vehicles in its line-up eligible for the Biden administration tax credit.Before the price cut, the five-seat version of the Model Y had been ineligible for that credit, a designation Musk had called "messed up". After the price cut, the long-range version of the Model Y will qualify for the $7,500 federal credit."This should really boost 2023 (Tesla) volumes," Gary Black, a Tesla investor who has remained bullish on the company and its prospects through the recent, sharp share price decline, said in a tweet. "It's the right move."Still, some users on Tesla fan forums online complained the price cuts disadvantaged customers who had recently bought their vehicle, leaving them with a lower-valued item on the second-hand car market."I'm not very pleased with these huge price sways. Just reducing 10,000 euros like that - definitely makes you feel that you just paid far too much," one user wrote on a 'Tesla Drivers and Friends' forum on Friday.In China, where Tesla cut prices last week by 6-13.5%, owners protested at delivery centres across the country, pressing Tesla for compensation.Before the price cut, Tesla inventory in the United States, as tracked by the models its website shows as immediately available, had been trending higher. Prices on used Tesla models had also been declining, increasing the pressure on it to adjust new-car sticker prices.For 2021, the United States and China combined had accounted for about 75% of Tesla sales, although the automaker has been growing sales in Europe, where its Berlin factory has been ramping up production.NEW SALES LEADERSHIPThe shift is the first major move by Tesla since appointing its lead executive for China and Asia, Tom Zhu, to oversee U.S. output and sales.Tesla cut prices in China and other Asian markets last week. Along with previous price cuts announced in October and recent incentives, the Chinese price for a Model 3 or Model Y was down 13% to 24% from September after the recent move, Reuters calculations showed.Tesla has also cut prices in South Korea, Japan, Australia and Singapore.Analysts had said the Chinese price cuts would boost demand and increase pressure on its rivals there, including BYD , to follow suit in what could become a price war in the largest single market for electric vehicles.That pressure could be building in Europe as well.Tesla's Model 3 was the best-selling electric vehicle in Germany last month, followed by the Model Y, beating Volkswagen's all-electric ID.4. Volkswagen recently raised the price of its entry-level ID.3, putting it at parity with the now-discounted Model 3.Tesla missed Wall Street estimates for fourth quarter deliveries. Full year growth in deliveries was 40% - also short of Musk's own forecast of 50%.

South Korean police on Friday blamed negligence and planning failures for last year's Halloween crowd crush in Seoul that killed more than 150 people.Scores of young costumed partygoers, mostly women in their 20s, died in the disaster on October 29 in the capital's popular Itaewon nightlife area.A special team that spent months combing through evidence and interviewing officials, said at the end of its probe that there had been massive planning and response failures -- but stopped short of blaming any top government or national policy agency officials."Organisations that are legally obligated to prevent and respond to disasters -- police, district offices and Seoul Metro -- did not establish safety measures in advance or came up with poor plans," Sohn Jae-han, the team's head, told reporters."Appropriate measures were not taken even after receiving rescue requests" on the day of the disaster, he said.Poor cooperation between agencies and delays in communications and relief efforts contributed to a higher death toll, he added.Six people have been arrested due to the probe -- including Lee Im-jae, the former head of the Yongsan Police Station, which oversees Itaewon, and Park Hee-young, the head of the Yongsan district office.Both Lee and Park are being held in detention on charges of professional negligence resulting in death.In December, a teenager who had survived the crush was found dead in an apparent suicide, with officials ruling he should be considered a victim of the disaster, and raising the death toll to 159.- No top government officials liable –But the team did not blame any officials from the Seoul city government, the interior ministry, or the national policy agency, Sohn said, as it was "difficult to conclude that there was a concrete violation of duty".Interior Minister Lee Sang-min has faced mounting pressure to step down over the tragedy.Shortly after the crush, he was widely criticised for claiming that having more fire department and police personnel in Itaewon would not have prevented the disaster.He has since repeatedly apologised -- including in person last week to the families of the victims -- but has not offered to resign.South Korea's rapid transformation from a war-torn, impoverished backwater to Asia's fourth-largest economy and a global cultural powerhouse is a source of its national pride.But a series of preventable disasters -- such as the Halloween crush and the 2014 Sewol ferry sinking that killed 304 people -- has shaken public confidence in the authorities.

For years, Emem Thomas’s physique drew snarky remarks from slimmer classmates in southern Nigeria that shattered her confidence and natural affability.As teasing and taunts marred her teenage years, she gave up on dreams like competing in a local beauty pageant.Then she found a niche that values what Thomas now proudly describes as her “plus-sized” body type: the “Dragon Squad Limited”, a team of female bouncers.“I love what I see dragons do in movies,” she said. “They are also a symbol of power and protection.”Founded in 2018, Thomas only employs women of a certain weight and shape, creating a safe space for plus-size women to excel in a field that is traditionally male-dominated.“My team is all about plus-size ladies,” she explained. “If you have the plus-size body, then that is cool for me, before I now talk about your passion and other qualifications.”The Dragon Squad’s 43 recruits have worked security at about 2,000 events including house parties, funerals, political rallies and club nights.“People expect us to be in the kitchen or probably doing make-up and other feminine roles, but joining this squad has really enlightened me,” said 23-year-old bouncer Peace Vigorous, the youngest of the crew.In addition to walkie-talkies, boots and dark glasses, the bouncers carry pepper spray.The risk of being molested on the job is “always something we have in mind”, said Thomas.“We always prep ourselves for that” and for “men looking down on us”.On an early overcast morning, Thomas led bouncers through a sweaty fitness session on a parking lot.The women have acquired skills, strength, and most importantly for Thomas, confidence.“Most of them... were always shy. They couldn’t talk,” she said, noting that she too became introverted because of her weight.Behaviour that draws attention such as standing in front of a crowd and giving orders can be particularly challenging for women used to avoiding the public eye.“Face the crowd and be yourself,” Thomas tells them when they falter. “You are supposed to be seen and known.”Thomas’s newfound confidence has transformed her social and family life in the city of Uyo, where the 37-year-old lives with her two children.She no longer considers herself and introvert or shies away from events.The Dragon Squad has also led her to advocate for the rights of girls and women.Gender violence is rife in Nigeria, which has one of the world’s highest rates of sexual assault.Religious militant groups in the north are notorious for kidnapping girls and women and trafficking them.For Thomas, change comes with “breaking the barrier” to show what women bring to all sectors of society.She believes female bouncers “have a way of taking off danger” by listening to troublemakers and victims in a way that most men do not have patience for.“I see no reason why women (should not be) given a chance.”

Prince Harry's autobiography "Spare" sold 1.4 million English-language copies on its first day in the UK, United States and Canada, publisher Penguin Random House said on Thursday.The sales figures come as the first opinion poll since the memoir's publication showed Harry's popularity in the UK continuing to nosedive.The headline-grabbing book was published on Tuesday and accompanied by four high-profile promotional interviews with the prince.Revelations included Harry's claim his brother Prince William physically attacked him in a row in 2019 and that the once-close brothers begged their father not to marry his wife, Queen Consort Camilla.Parts of the book were widely leaked but its contents have continued to fill airtime and newspaper and online pages.Speaking about the sales, president and publisher of the Random House Group Gina Centrello said in a statement that "Spare" was far more than a celebrity memoir."Vulnerable and heartfelt, brave and intimate, 'Spare' is the story of someone we may have thought we already knew, but now we can truly come to understand Prince Harry through his own words," she said."Looking at these extraordinary first day sales, readers clearly agree, Spare is a book that demands to be read, and it is a book we are proud to publish," she added.Cashing inThe book is one of a number of lucrative contracts struck by Harry and his American wife Meghan cashing in on their royal connections.The couple dramatically quit royal life and moved to California in 2020 and have complained bitterly about their treatment in the UK.A YouGov survey published in The Times found that only 24 percent of people now have a positive view of the prince -- down from 80 percent a decade ago -- with 68 percent critical."Spare" was published in a total of 16 languages worldwide and released simultaneously in print and digital formats in North America and in the United Kingdom.An unabridged audio edition of the book, read by Harry, was also published by Penguin Random House Audio.The first US printing of Spare was two million copies, however the book has now gone back to press for additional copies to meet demand, according to Penguin Random House.Bookshops in the UK opened early on Tuesday to offer Harry's book although buyers were sparse after the extensive leaks ahead of publication.The blockbuster publication comes as the royal family prepares for the coronation of Harry's father King Charles III on May 6.The royal family has not commented on the book.

A "relentless parade of cyclones" hitting the US state of California was expected to shift farther to the north, the US National Weather Service said Thursday, as the region continued to struggle with massive floods and landslides.At least 18 people are known to have died in the recent series of storms that have lashed the western United States, bringing rainfall levels not seen in 150 years to some places.Communities have been washed out, powerlines toppled and roads blocked by rockslides as an endless deluge pounds the Golden State.On Wednesday, a swathe of northern California was under a flood watch or winter weather advisory."The heaviest rains are expected to impact northwestern California through the next couple of days with a few inches of rain possible," the National Weather Service warned.A later advisory said the weather system would also impact other states in the Pacific Northwest through early Saturday.That rain will come on top of weeks of downpours that have left the earth saturated, with rivers fit to burst and hillsides at risk of collapse.In the town of Aptos, near Santa Cruz, residents were picking up the pieces after being inundated."It's probably the worst flood that I've seen here since I've lived here, since 1984," Doug Spinelli told AFP."Aptos Creek was flowing down so angrily, I thought it was going to rip out our little pedestrian walkway, and there were tree trunks being forced down the river, almost at a rate of about one every 30 seconds."It was amazing to watch how much debris and timber was flowing down the creek."California Governor Gavin Newsom, who visited weather-wrecked Capitola on Tuesday, said the relentless storms meant that even lesser downpours could be problematic."The number of inches of rain, and the intensity doesn't tell the entire story," he told reporters."We're soaked, this place is soaked. And now just more modest amounts of precipitation could add as equal or greater impact in terms of the conditions on the ground."'We will search until we find him'More than 35,000 homes and businesses were without power in California early on Thursday, according to tracking site Poweroutage.us, and there have been tragedies across the state.A five-year-old boy who disappeared in floodwaters in San Luis Obispo was still missing Wednesday.Lindsay Doan was driving son Kyle to school on Monday morning when the family car was swept into floodwaters.She managed to get out of the vehicle, but could not open Kyle's door."He was calm. He was trying to say, 'Stay calm, Mom,'" the boy's father, Brian Doan said, according to the Los Angeles Times. "She was doing her best."When she finally got him out of the car they were separated by the current.Nearby residents pulled her from the water, but Kyle had been swept down the creek."My wife feels very terrible surviving this and not him," Brian Doan said."She did the right thing getting him out of the car. San Miguel Fire told me they saw the car had moved and it was pushed upside down in the creek."San Luis Obispo County Sheriff said they were still searching for the child, including with underwater teams."We will search until we find him," spokesman Tony Cipolla told The San Luis Obispo Tribune.FatalitiesAccording to a tally by the LA Times, the 18 confirmed dead in the state include drivers who have been found in submerged cars, people struck by falling trees, a husband and wife killed in a rockfall, and people whose bodies were discovered in floodwaters.Winter storms are not unusual in California, which tends to get most of its annual rain over a fairly short period.But the current systems -- which have brought more rain to San Francisco in two weeks than at any time since 1866 -- are vicious.Scientists say global warming, which is being driven by human activity, is making weather events more extreme, with more violent storms and more severe droughts.Despite the misery, the storms, which are expected to continue to rake California for another week, are bringing rain to a part of the country that badly needs it after more than two decades of drought.But even the vast volumes of water that are falling are not enough to replenish depleted reservoirs and aquifers.Shasta Lake, the state's largest reservoir, was still only at two-thirds of its historical average for early January, water resources department data showed.