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Harry and Meghan dismiss Sun apology for offending column as ‘PR stunt’
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s Prince Harry and his wife Meghan on Saturday dismissed an apology by the tabloid Sun newspaper for publishing a column highly critical of Meghan as a “PR stunt” and said the...
U.S. deep freeze leaves more than 700,000 without power, thousands of flights canceled
(Reuters) – An arctic blast that gripped much of the United States on Saturday left more than 700,000 without power, at least 16 dead from weather-related car crashes and thousands stranded due to flight cancellations. Plummeting temperatures were expected to bring the coldest Christmas Eve on record, and energy systems across the country were strained...
China’s National Health Commission to stop publishing daily COVID figures
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s National Health Commission, which for the past three years or so has published daily COVID-19 case figures for the country, said it will no longer release such data from Sunday. “Relevant COVID information will be published by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention for reference and research,” the NHC...
Twitter restores suicide prevention feature after Reuters report
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Twitter Inc has restored a feature that promotes suicide prevention hotlines and other safety resources to users looking up certain content, after coming under pressure from some users and consumer safety groups over its removal. Reuters reported on Friday that the feature was taken down a few days ago, citing two people...
Brazilian anti-bomb police carry out operation near capital’s airport
SAO PAULO (Reuters) – Brazil’s federal police bomb squad are carrying out an operation prompted by reports of a suspected explosive artifact found near the airport of Brasilia, the capital city, according to future justice minister Flavio Dino. Dino, who will soon begin his position as part of President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s government,...
India makes COVID test mandatory for arrivals from some countries, including China
NEW DELHI (Reuters) – India has mandated a COVID-19 negative test report for travelers arriving from China, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Thailand, the health minister said on Saturday. Passengers from those countries would be put under quarantine if they showed symptoms of COVID-19 or tested positive, Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said.
Malaysia finds body of last person unaccounted for in campsite landside
KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – Rescue teams in Malaysia on Saturday recovered the body of the last person unaccounted for after a landslide that flattened a campsite last week, bringing what is thought to be the final death toll to 31. The landslide occurred in the early hours of Dec. 15 at Batang Kali, a popular...
Tanker explosion kills 8 in Johannesburg
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – A gas tanker apparently stuck under a bridge exploded in Johannesburg on Saturday, killing eight people, injuring scores more and damaging nearby buildings, emergency services said. The blast broke the roof of the emergency department at the Tambo Memorial hospital, destroyed two houses and several cars, and injured bystanders. The vehicle caught...
Kurdish protest over Paris shooting turns violent
PARIS (Reuters) -Clashes broke out for a second day in Paris on Saturday between police and Kurdish protestors angry at the killing of three members of their community by a gunman. Cars were overturned, at least one vehicle was burned, shop windows were damaged and small fires set alight near Republic Square, a traditional venue...
Remember the war weary and the poor, pope urges on Christmas Eve
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis on Saturday led the world’s Catholics into Christmas, saying in an apparent reference to the war in Ukraine and other conflicts that the level of greed and hunger for power was such that some wanted to “consume even their neighbours”. Francis, celebrating the 10th Christmas of his pontificate, presided...
Charles ‘The Serpent’ Sobhraj freed from Nepal prison, heads to France
KATHMANDU (Reuters) -Charles Sobhraj, a convicted killer who police say is responsible for a string of murders in the 1970s and 1980s, was released from a Nepal prison on Friday after nearly two decades behind bars. The 78-year-old French national is suspected of killing more than 20 Western backpackers on the “hippie trail” through Asia,...
British nurses and paramedics plan more strikes in 2023
LONDON (Reuters) -Britain’s health workers on Friday announced a fresh round of strikes in January, with their long-running dispute over pay and conditions with the government set to continue into 2023. The new strike dates will heap more pressure on Britain’s state-funded National Health Service (NHS) which is already stretched by staff shortages and record...
Oil rises $3/bbl after Russia signals output cut due to price cap
NEW YORK (Reuters) -Oil prices settled about $3 per barrel higher on Friday for a second straight week of gains after Moscow said it could cut crude output in response to the G7 price cap on Russian exports. Brent crude settled at $83.92, up by $2.94 or 3.6%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude...
Venezuela’s working-class communities get together to eat Christmas ‘hallacas’
CARACAS (Reuters) – Residents in working-class neighborhoods of Venezuela’s capital city of Caracas are coming together to break bread over “hallacas,” a dish commonly served around Christmas, as part of an initiative to unite communities depleted by migration. Hallacas, a type of tamale filled with ingredients such as beef, chicken, olives and capers and wrapped...
Suspected militants heading for Pakistani govt target blow themselves up
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) -Pakistani militants thought to have been on the verge of carrying out a suicide bombing in Islamabad’s government district blew themselves up on Friday as police pursued their car, killing one officer, authorities said. The interior ministry said the vehicle had been heading for a high-value target in the capital, without giving details,...
Christmas gifts come by boat to isolated Romanian Danube Delta villages
C.A. ROSETTI, Romania (Reuters) – For the elderly living in remote villages in the Danube Delta, one of the world’s largest wetlands, winter is a time of isolation. This year, they are also struggling to cope with a shortage of firewood and rising food prices. So, days before Christmas, Romanian coast guard officers braced against...
U.S. FDA approves Acer Therapeutics’ genetic disorder drug
(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Acer Therapeutics Inc’s drug for treating patients with a type of genetic disorder called urea cycle disorders (UCDs), according to the health regulator’s website. The approval letter, issued on Thursday, said the drug, sodium phenylbutyrate, could be used as an adjunctive therapy to the...
U.S. FDA changes Plan B label to say it does not cause abortion
(Reuters) -The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday changed the label for the emergency contraception known as Plan B One-Step to make clear that the pill does not alter the course of an existing pregnancy. The consumer information distributed with the morning after pill known as Plan B One-Step, which has been available over...
Congo’s M23 rebels withdraw from seized positions in goodwill gesture
GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) – Democratic Republic of Congo’s M23 rebels on Friday began withdrawing from some territories they had seized in recent offensives as part of what one of the group’s leaders termed a goodwill gesture in a ceasefire brokered by East African regional leaders. The rebels handed over positions they had...
24th December
Twitter removes suicide prevention feature, says it’s under revamp
(Reuters) -Twitter Inc removed a feature in the past few days that promoted suicide prevention hotlines and other safety resources to users looking up certain content, according to two people familiar with the matter who said it was ordered by new owner Elon Musk. After publication of this story, Twitter head of trust and safety...
Capitol riot panel’s final report sets out case to try Trump
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The congressional panel probing the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol released its final report late on Thursday, outlining its case that former U.S. President Donald Trump should face criminal charges of inciting the deadly riot. The House of Representatives Select Committee also made public the transcripts of a number...
Germany suspends measures to promote business with Iran
BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s government is suspending state measures designed to foster business with Iran due to the repression of nationwide protests in the Islamic Republic, the economy ministry said on Friday. The suspension will affect export credits and investment guarantees as well as Germany’s manager training and trade fair programmes in Iran, the ministry...
Argentina president rejects Supreme Court ruling, sparking backlash
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina’s leftist President Alberto Fernandez has sparked a battle with the country’s top court and something of a legal crisis after he said he would reject a ruling it made to give a larger proportion of state funds to the city of Buenos Aires. The South American country has a system...
China’s stretched health system braces for peak in COVID infections
BEIJING/SHANGHAI (Reuters) -China is expecting a peak in COVID-19 infections within a week, a health official said, with authorities predicting extra strain on the country’s health system even as they downplay the disease’s severity and continue to report no new deaths. In the face of a surging outbreak and widespread protests against its “zero-COVID” regime...
Mexican president says authorities must examine alleged plagiarism by top judge
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Friday said authorities should resolve a case of alleged plagiarism by a Supreme Court justice he nominated who is in the running to take the helm of the country’s top tribunal. Justice Yasmin Esquivel was this week accused by Mexican news outlet Latinus of...
Canada’s Hudson Bay polar bear population plummets as climate change warms Arctic
TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada’s Western Hudson Bay polar bear population has fallen 27% in just five years, according to a government report released this week, suggesting climate change is impacting the animals. Every autumn, the bears living along the western edge of the Bay pass through the sub-Arctic tourist town of Churchill, Manitoba, as they...
Facebook parent Meta to settle Cambridge Analytica scandal case for $725 million
(Reuters) -Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc has agreed to pay $725 million to resolve a class-action lawsuit accusing the social media giant of allowing third parties, including Cambridge Analytica, to access users’ personal information. The proposed settlement, which was disclosed in a court filing late on Thursday, would resolve a long-running lawsuit prompted by revelations...
Winter storm causes havoc across Canada, disrupts holiday travel
OTTAWA/WINNIPEG (Reuters) -Strong winds, freezing rain and heavy snowfall closed schools, cut power to homes and cancelled flights across Canada on Friday as a powerful winter storm swept across the country, prompting authorities to warn people to stay indoors ahead of worsening conditions. The storm is connected to the same freezing weather system that has...
U.S. deep freeze disrupts travel and cuts power to 1.5 million ahead of holiday
(Reuters) -More than two-thirds of the U.S. population was under an extreme weather alert on Friday as a deep freeze enveloped much of the country ahead of the holiday weekend, thwarting travel plans, knocking out power to homes and businesses and causing at least three deaths. With a column of bitter cold that stretched from...
Santa brings Christmas cheer to Chad refugee camp
N’DJAMENA (Reuters) – A 37 year-old Central African Republic refugee, Henriette Batnan, could not afford buying a Christmas present for her son Edouard, who fled home with her in 2017. Instead, she dressed him in ceremonial robes so he could meet Santa Claus, who visited the Dembo Refugee Camp in southern Chad on Wednesday, bringing...
