Pope Francis arrives to address the media while aboard the plane from Juba to Rome on Feb 5, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP) ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE — Pope Francis said on Sunday that laws criminalising LGBT people are a sin and an injustice because God loves and accompanies people with same-sex attraction. Francis, who made […]
Tag: said
Cyprus heads to polls in presidential elections
(Lelft to right) Cypriot Parliament Speaker Annita Demetriou, President Nikos Anastasiades, and head of the ruling Democratic Rally (DISY) and presidential candidate Averof Neofytou, attend a campaign rally in the southern coastal city of Larnaca on Jan 27, 2023, ahead of the country's presidential vote. (PHOTO / AFP) NICOSIA – Cyprus votes on Sunday for […]
Nearly 200 soldiers freed in Russia-Ukraine prisoner swap
Ukrainian servicemen pose on the road as they walk toward their base near the frontline in the Donetsk region on Feb 4, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP) KIEV/MOSCOW/WASHINGTON – Dozens of Russian and Ukrainian soldiers have been freed following a latest prisoner swap, officials from both sides confirmed on Saturday. Andriy Yermak, head of the Ukrainian […]
Seeing Indonesia’s sports tourism development through Lake Toba F1 Powerboat Championship
Lake Toba, N. Sumatra, Indonesia, Feb 3, 2023 – (ACN Newswire via SEAPRWire.com) – In developing its sports tourism potential, Indonesia holds many championships or sports events, and one of the closest is the F1 Powerboat (F1H2O) World Championship in Lake Toba, North Sumatra, on February 24-26. Lake Toba, one of the most spacious lakes […]
Honduras launches $280m UN-backed humanitarian aid plan
The United Nations logo is seen inside the United Nations headquarters in New York City on Sept 20, 2022. (PHOTO / AFP) TEGUCIGALPA — Honduras and the United Nations launched on Thursday a humanitarian aid plan aiming to reach more than 2 million of the Central American country's most vulnerable people, the groups said. The […]
Honduras launches $280 mln UN-backed humanitarian aid plan
The United Nations logo is seen inside the United Nations headquarters in New York City on Sept 20, 2022. (PHOTO / AFP) TEGUCIGALPA — Honduras and the United Nations launched on Thursday a humanitarian aid plan aiming to reach more than 2 million of the Central American country's most vulnerable people, the groups said. The […]
Convention on Wetlands: World wetland loss must be reversed
This aerial photo taken on Feb 1, 2023 captures the Beidagang Wetland in north China's Tianjin. (PHOTO / XINHUA) GENEVA — The rapid loss of the world's wetlands must urgently be reversed by restoring vital ecosystems, the head of the Convention on Wetlands said here on Thursday. Awareness on the issue must also be raised, […]
Putin: Russia’s response to threats not limited to armored vehicles
Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with members of public patriotic and youth organizations at the Battle of Stalingrad Museum and Panorama in Volgograd on Feb 2, 2023, during commemorations for the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory at the Battle of Stalingrad during World War II. (PHOTO / AFP) MOSCOW / KIEV – Russia's response […]
US deeply concerned by release of Sudanese guilty of killing diplomat
This Jan 9, 2008, file photo shows Pallbearers carrying the casket of John Granville, the American diplomat killed in Sudan, at his funeral at St John Vianney RC Church in Orchard Park, New York. Washington is deeply concerned over the release this week of a Sudanese man facing the death penalty in connection with the […]
US rights body calls for stronger reproductive protections
This July 25, 2022, photo shows abortion-rights protestors march between the Indiana Statehouse and the Indiana State Library where US Vice President Kamala Harris was meeting with Indiana legislators to discuss reproductive rights in Indianapolis. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on Wednesday called for countries in the Americas to reinforce protections for women […]
Britain’s Sunak defends Brexit as outlook dims
A bartender works at a pub in Cambridge on Jan 24. British consumers are battling an escalating cost-of-living crisis. (PHOTO / REUTERS) LONDON — British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Monday defended Brexit, insisting that leaving the European Union had brought significant achievements and offered a "huge opportunity", as the International Monetary Fund slashed the […]
Protest in France, pressure on Macron’s pension reform
In this photo taken on Jan 31, 2023, protesters clash with police on the Place Vauban in Paris during a rally on a second day of nationwide strikes and protests over the government's proposed pension reform. (PHOTO / AFP) PARIS — Huge crowds marched across France on Tuesday to say "non" to President Emmanuel Macron's […]
Tribunal: UK govt ‘unlawfully’ issued warrants for nearly 5 years
The Union Flag flaps in the wind outside the Houses of Parliament in London, Oct 24, 2022. (PHOTO / AP) British spies unlawfully retained people's intercepted data over almost five years, a tribunal said on Monday in a ruling that blamed “widespread corporate failure” at the domestic intelligence agency MI5 and the interior ministry. The […]
US identifies $5.4b in potentially fraudulent COVID loans
In this file photo taken on May 12, 2020 Healthcare workers wait for patients to be tested at a walk-in COVID-19 testing site in Arlington, Virginia. The White House said on Jan 30, 2023, that the national and public health emergencies declared just as the COVID-19 pandemic took grip three years ago will officially end […]
West blasted for pulling strings in Kyiv
Russia says actions of 'puppet masters' leave no room for talks as arms flow in Olaf Scholz speaks next to a Leopard 2 battle tank during a military exercise in Ostenholz, Germany in October. (PHOTO / AFP) MOSCOW/KYIV — Russia has lashed out at Ukraine's Western allies, denouncing them as "puppet masters" amid Ukraine's renewed […]
US watchdog identifies $5.4b in potentially fraudulent COVID loans
In this file photo taken on May 12, 2020 Healthcare workers wait for patients to be tested at a walk-in COVID-19 testing site in Arlington, Virginia. The White House said on Jan 30, 2023, that the national and public health emergencies declared just as the COVID-19 pandemic took grip three years ago will officially end […]
UN: In-need children in Haiti up half million in 2 years
In this photo taken on July 30, 2022, children take refuge at a Catholic school in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, after escaping gang violence in the Cité Soleil area. More than 300 Haitian children try to forget, at least for a time, the gang violence that forced them to flee their homes. (PHOTO / AFP) UNITED NATIONS […]
Biden says ‘no’ to sending fighter jets to Ukraine
In this photo taken on Jan 30, 2023, cars drive past by board depicting US President Joe Biden and reads: "The World of Brave People! Thank you for support!" in the town of Bucha, outside Kyiv, Ukraine. (PHOTO / AP) WASHINGTON — US President Joe Biden said on Monday that he won't approve sending F-16 […]
Ex-Brazil president Bolsonaro applies for US tourist visa
In this photo taken on Jan 9, 2023, Brazil's former president Jair Bolsonaro lies on his hospital bed in Kissimmee, Florida. (PHOTO / AFP) WASHINGTON — Former Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro has applied for a six-month tourist visa to remain in the United States, his lawyer said on Monday, despite calls for any US visas […]
Finland says to stick with Sweden in NATO process
In this file photo dated Jan 25, 2023, Finland's Foreign Affairs Minister Pekka Haavisto attends a joint press conference with Latvia's foreign affairs minister (unseen) after talks in Riga, Latvia. (PHOTO / AFP) HELSINKI – Finland is sticking to its plan to join NATO at the same time as Nordic neighbor Sweden, and hopes to […]