NewsAFP NewsPolls open in Spain local vote that ups pressure on PM
Spaniards began voting Sunday in local and regional polls which will be a barometer for a year-end general election that surveys suggest Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will lose, heralding a return of the right.But if surveys -- which forecast a shift to the right -- prove correct, success at a regional level will provide opposition leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo, head of the right-wing Popular Party (PP), with the "momentum" he needs to win the end-of-year election, Santi said.
PoliticsAFP NewsRepublicans, Biden reach debt ceiling deal
President Joe Biden and Republican leader Kevin McCarthy announced a deal Saturday to raise the debt ceiling, dragging the United States back from the precipice of default with only a few days to spare.Biden argued that he would not negotiate over spending issues as a condition for raising the debt ceiling, accusing the Republicans of taking the economy hostage.
NewsAFP NewsChina's first homegrown passenger jet makes maiden commercial flight
China's first domestically produced passenger jet made its maiden commercial flight on Sunday, a milestone event in the nation's decades-long effort to compete with Western rivals in the air."In the future, most passengers will be able to choose to travel by large, domestically produced aircraft," state broadcaster CCTV said.
NewsAFP NewsErdogan seeks third decade of rule in Turkish runoff
Turkey voted Sunday in a historic runoff that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan enters as the firm favourite to extend two decades of his Islamic-rooted rule to 2028.Erdogan's warm ties with the West during his first decade in power were followed by a second in which he turned Turkey into NATO's problem child.
NewsAFP NewsIraq warned to end oil addiction to avoid 'intensive care'
Oil-dependent Iraq has been warned its economy risks going into "intensive care" unless it diversifies in line with worldwide efforts to tackle the impact of fossil fuels on the climate."If oil plunges, our economy will go to intensive care."
NewsAFP NewsPlanet-friendly farming takes root in drought-hit Tunisia
Saber Zouani lost his job as a waiter when the Covid pandemic ravaged the Tunisian tourism sector, so he decided to try something new and started a permaculture farm.Zouani started off more than two years ago with the help of the Tunisian Association of Permaculture, which gave him initial training and then financial support for basic equipment.
BusinessAFP NewsGerman brewery has high hops for powdered beer
With its golden hue, bittersweet notes and frothy head, Stefan Fritsche's latest brew looks and tastes like any other beer."We want to go down a new path, so to speak... to make a real, normal and good-tasting beer out of powder," he said. str-fec/dlc/rl/leg
NewsAFP News70 years after first summit, Everest keeps giving
When Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa first climbed Everest 70 years ago, they paved the way for thousands of foreign climbers to try to follow in their footsteps.The eight-day trek to the Everest base camp is among the most popular multi-day hikes in Nepal, with tens of thousands of tourists making the journey every year.
BusinessAFP NewsHong Kong treads fine line on regulating retail crypto trade
Retail investors in Hong Kong may soon be able to buy popular cryptocurrencies like bitcoin at government-licensed exchanges, thanks to new rules meant to bolster the city's standing as a digital asset hub.One safeguard is that exchanges can only provide "large-cap virtual assets" -- such as bitcoin and ethereum -- to retail investors, and must set up internal committees to decide which cryptocurrencies to offer.
NewsAFP NewsSudanese army chief asks UN to dismiss envoy
Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan has accused UN special envoy Volker Perthes of stoking a brutal conflict with paramilitaries, the latest in a series of apparent moves to bolster his war effort.In a statement from UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric, Guterres said he was "shocked by the letter" from Burhan and "proud of the work done by Volker Perthes and reaffirms his full confidence in his Special Representative".
PoliticsAFP NewsRace for US debt deal as talks go to the wire
Democrats and Republicans seemed within grasping distance Saturday of a deal to end the US debt ceiling standoff, with both sides playing hardball in the final race for an agreement to avert a potentially catastrophic default.This year, the increasingly hard-right Republican Party has decided to turn the debt ceiling into leverage to force Biden to roll back favorite Democratic spending priorities.
NewsAFP NewsOver 1,500 arrested at climate protest in The Netherlands
More than 1,500 people were arrested during a protest by the Extinction Rebellion climate group in The Hague on Saturday, Dutch police said.But Saturday saw the highest number of people arrested at a protest yet, according to Dutch news agency ANP. "We're going to stay here until they drag us away," said postgraduate student Anne Kerevers, 31.
NewsAFP NewsIsraelis continue judicial reform protests after budget approved
Israelis took to the streets of Tel Aviv Saturday night for the 21st straight week against the hard-right government's controversial judicial reform plans, days after parliament approved the state budget. Ongoing dialogue produced no major breakthrough, and on Wednesday parliament approved the state budget, with Netanyahu vowing to "continue our efforts to reach understandings as broad as possible on the legal reform."
NewsAFP NewsGiant anti-government rally in Belgrade over mass shootings
Tens of thousands of people staged the fourth weekly anti-government protest in the Serbian capital Belgrade Saturday after two back-to-back shootings that killed 18 people, half of them children.Nothing will change here until people realise it is posible and that we do have a choice," 40-year-old Dusan Valent told AFP. The protests took shape after the early May mass shootings that left 18 people dead and wounded several others.
NewsHuffPostTexas House Votes To Impeach GOP Attorney General Ken Paxton
Paxton has accused his Republican colleagues of being liberals and one of them of being drunk.
PoliticsHuffPostSNAP Work Requirements Among Final Sticking Points In Debt Ceiling Drama
The White House is resisting new limits on food benefits for unemployed adults.
NewsAFP NewsEgypt unveils ancient mummification workshops and tombs
Archaeologists in Egypt have unearthed two human and animal embalming workshops, as well as two tombs, discovered in the Saqqara necropolis south of Cairo, the government said on Saturday.Mostafa Waziri, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, told reporters the embalming workshops, where humans and animals were mummified, "date back to the 30th dynasty" which reigned around 2,400 years ago.
NewsAFP NewsSerbian President Vucic steps down as head of ruling party
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic stepped down as the leader of his party on Saturday after more than a decade at the helm, but he is widely expected to remain the most powerful political figure in the Balkan country.Despite no longer being party chief, Vucic will remain Serbia's president and the country's most influential politician -- just as he did when he stepped down from being prime minister and became president in 2017.
PoliticsHuffPostTwitter Users Slam Matt Gaetz's Newsmax Hosting Gig For Crossing A 'New Line'
The Florida Republican, as a guest host on the network, railed about student loan forgiveness and the debt ceiling talks in Washington.
NewsAFP NewsDefiant grassroots campaign targets Erdogan voters
Undaunted by their underdog status, Turkish activists are trying to bridge the political divide in a grassroots campaign aimed at helping President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rival in Sunday's historic election runoff.Pro-Kilicdaroglu activists are trying to pierce the air of inevitability surrounding Turkey's first runoff, where few believe Erdogan will fail to extend two decades of conservative Islamic-rooted rule to 2028.
BusinessHuffPostTwitter Bails On EU Pact To Combat Disinformation: Official
European Commissioner Thierry Breton said Twitter was still subject to tough new digital rules. "You can run but you can't hide."
HealthHuffPostMy Daughter Wasn't Expected To Live Past 31. A New Drug Saved Her — But There's 1 Big Catch.
"I texted a close friend: 'Sammie is less than five years from 31.' And then I broke down."
NewsHuffPostRon DeSantis Wants To Take His 'War On Woke' National. There’s One Big Problem: The Constitution.
Courts have repeatedly rejected the Florida governor's narrow-minded agenda as a “positively dystopian” assault on free speech and due process.
PoliticsHuffPostJames Comer Is Not Saying Joe Biden Took A $5 Million Bribe — He’s Just Asking Questions
Republicans want the FBI to substantiate or refute an allegation that Biden took money as vice president. In the meantime, they're publicizing the rumor.
NewsAFP NewsChinese aircraft carrier passes through Taiwan Strait
Three Chinese ships, including the Shandong aircraft carrier, sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Saturday, which an expert said was an "unusual" display of Beijing's military might during a prolonged period of tensions.- 'General pattern' - Steve Tsang, the director of London-based SOAS China Institute, said sailing the Shandong aircraft carrier through the Taiwan Strait was "very unusual".
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