NewsAFP NewsIndonesian leprosy survivor crafts new limbs for shunned villagers
When Ali Saga visited a clinic in Jakarta four decades ago, he watched as patients and health workers scrambled to get away from him.- 'No longer in pain' - Nearly 500 people who had leprosy now live in Sitanala because it was located behind a hospital that for decades served as the rehabilitation centre for patients across Indonesia.
NewsAFP News'Ideology of hate' consuming India, says Gandhi's great-grandson
India's rising tide of Hindu nationalism is an affront to the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, his great-grandson says, ahead of the 75th anniversary of the revered independence hero's assassination.Today, Gandhi's assassin is revered by many Hindu nationalists who have pushed for a re-evaluation of his decision to murder a man synonymous with non-violence.
NewsAFP NewsIvory Coast leprosy sufferers fight social exclusion
"A week before my mother died, her house was broken into and burned down," said Mathieu Okoma Agoa, from a village in Ivory Coast.Okoma Agoa's mother suffered from leprosy, a disease that made her a social outcast long before she died.
NewsAFP NewsTunisians to vote in second round of poll for defanged parliament
Tunisia holds the second round of elections for a toothless parliament on Sunday, with voters preoccupied by economic woes and turnout seen as crucial in the politically divided nation.Analysts predict low turnout again among Tunisia's 7.8 million eligible voters for the second round as major parties including Saied's arch-rivals, the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha, hold a boycott.
NewsAFP NewsWomen drive fast train to Mecca as Saudi workforce evolves
Driver Tharaa Ali takes her seat at the helm of a high-speed train ferrying pilgrims to Mecca, a beneficiary of conservative Saudi Arabia's bid to employ its booming female workforce.But last year she joined some 28,000 applicants vying for just 32 slots for women drivers on the Haramain High Speed Railway, which plies the 450-kilometre (280-mile) route between the holy cities of Mecca and Medina at speeds of up to 300 kilometres (186 miles) per hour.
PoliticsHuffPostSeveral Election-Denying Lawmakers Hold Key Vote Oversight Roles
The high-profile appointments give the lawmakers a platform to "cast further doubt on the integrity of elections."
NewsAFP NewsNorth Korea denies arms dealing with Russia
North Korea on Sunday denied providing arms to Moscow after the United States said the nuclear-armed state supplied rockets and missiles to Russia's private military group Wagner.Kim Jong Un declared North Korea an "irreversible" nuclear state in September, and the country conducted sanctions-busting weapons tests nearly every month last year -- including firing its most advanced intercontinental ballistic missile. sh/dhc
PoliticsHuffPostTrump Attacks On Asian-Americans Not Only 'Repugnant,' But 'Politically Stupid': Columnist
The Republicans are dim, too, if they don't rein in Trump, whose "animus is almost pathological," warns Bloomberg's Robert A. George.
NewsAFP NewsUS trade shifts on Covid and China tensions, but no 'decoupling' yet
US trade flows are realigning on the back of pandemic shocks and tensions with China, but efforts to reduce interdependence between the superpowers have not brought a swift decoupling."The recent (Inflation Reduction Act) and Chips Act, and related sanctions are clear indicators of the Biden administration's efforts to decouple from China" in these areas, said Koopman.
NewsAFP News'Drought' has New Yorkers asking: 'Where's the snow?'
The idea of New York in wintertime conjures up images of Manhattan's Times Square and Central Park shrouded in snow.Meteorologists define snowfall in NYC as snow that measures at least 0.1 inches in Central Park.
NewsAFP NewsBlinken heads to Middle East as violence erupts
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was due Sunday in Egypt at the start of a Middle East trip on which he will look to use US influence to notch down Israeli-Palestinian tensions after an eruption of violence.Blinken is expected on his trip to reiterate US support for a Palestinian state, a prospect that few expect to advance under the new Israeli government.
NewsHuffPostSeveral Of George Santos Campaign Contributors Don't Appear To Exist: Report
Mother Jones reported being unable to locate the names or addresses listed on Santos' campaign finance filings.
NewsHuffPostProtests Erupt Nationwide After Video Footage Shows Memphis Police Beating Tyre Nichols
The 29-year-old Black man was arrested during a traffic stop and died three days later.
NewsAFP NewsPeru Congress rejects snap election, president asks to try again
Peru's embattled president Dina Boluarte on Saturday urged lawmakers to find a way out of a deepening political crisis by agreeing to snap elections in December, just hours after Congress voted against the idea.In the early hours of Saturday, lawmakers had rejected her request to move elections forward to December, even as anti-Boluarte protests raging across the country have left dozens dead.
NewsHuffPostObamas: Killing Of Tyre Nichols A 'Painful Reminder' Of America's Police Problem
"It’s up to all of us to mobilize for lasting change," tweeted former President Barack Obama after bodycam footage of the incident was released.
NewsAFP NewsBurkina rally celebrates French troop pull-out announcement
Thousands of demonstrators rallied in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou Saturday in support of the ruling junta, days after France confirmed its special forces there would withdraw, an AFP journalist saw.Former colonial power France has special forces based in Ouagadougou, but its presence has come under intense scrutiny as anti-French sentiment in the region grows.
ScienceHuffPostElusive Wildcat Found To Be Living On Mount Everest
Scientists confirmed the presence of the "rare and remarkable" Pallas's cat on the world's highest mountain.
NewsAFP NewsEfforts since George Floyd killing fail to stem US police violence
The shocking death of Tyre Nichols after a police beating has reopened anguished debate across the United States about police violence, fueling a sense that the huge, nationwide demonstrations of 2020 have done little to solve the problem.A huge factor explaining the difference is the enormous number of privately owned firearms in the United States -- there are more guns than there are people -- which sharply increases the sense of vulnerability police feel during interactions with the public, m
NewsAFP NewsAuthorities raise alert level around Lascar volcano in northern Chile
Authorities in Chile on Saturday raised the alert level and limited access to the area around the Lascar volcano, after an increase in seismic activity raised fears of a possible eruption.Following "an increase in seismicity," the National Geology and Mining Service has raised the alert level for Lascar from yellow to orange.
NewsAFP NewsFears of unrest dissipate in US after police beating video released
Graphic video of five US police officers brutally beating a young Black man who later died in hospital was met with widespread shock Saturday, even as concerns receded of a violent public backlash to the distressing footage.- 'It must end' - Five Memphis officers, who are all Black, were charged with second-degree murder in the beating of Nichols, who died in hospital on January 10 three days after being stopped on suspicion of reckless driving.
NewsAFP News'Unbearable distress': families rally for French held in Iran
Families of the French citizens jailed in Iran held a rally Saturday to urge their release, warning that their loved ones were enduring a sometimes years-long "inhuman" psychological and physical ordeal.The rally in Trocadero Square, central Paris, the first such to be organised in France, was attended by families and supporters of four of the French citizens held.
PoliticsHuffPostTrump Announces Plan To Build ‘Impenetrable Dome’ To Protect U.S. From Nuclear Threats
The twice-impeached former president, the subject of several criminal investigations, said President Joe Biden's administration is risking nuclear war.
NewsAFP NewsItaly's Eni signs $8 bn gas deal as Meloni visits Libya
Italian energy giant Eni signed an $8 billion gas deal with Libya's state-run National Oil Corporation Saturday as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni visited Tripoli.Meloni also visited Algeria this week seeking supply deals from Africa's top gas exporter.
PoliticsHuffPostProud Boys Aim To Subpoena Trump As Witness At Their Jan. 6 Trial: Reporter
It's unclear why they want him on the stand, but other Jan. 6 defendants have said they stormed the Capitol because they thought Trump wanted them to.
NewsAFP NewsHundreds pay tribute to slain Eswatini political activist
Hundreds of people, including foreign diplomats and activists, paid homage Saturday to a human rights lawyer who was shot dead in Eswatini, sparking alarm over political violence in Africa's last absolute monarchy.EU ambassador Dessislava Choumelova called for the "safety of all citizens including political activists".
