(BBC News) Reports from the Mexican border city of Matamoros say a splinter group of the Gulf Cartel, called the Scorpions Group, has apologized for kidnapping four U.S. citizens last week, killing two of them, and has turned over the men it says are responsible.
On their front pages, many of Mexico's newspapers published a photograph that appears to show five men lying face down on the ground, their hands tied, and their T-shirts pulled...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) Addressing an investment forum this week, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said his administration would not tolerate corruption regardless of an official’s rank or political connections, and pledged to tackle misconduct “without fear or favour.”
Less than 48 hours later, Malaysia’s former prime minister Muhyiddin Yassin was charged with multiple counts of corruption related to directly negotiated government contracts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The charges against Muhyiddin, announced on Friday following an investigation...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) New intelligence reviewed by officials in the United States suggests that a pro-Ukraine group attacked the Nord Stream gas pipelines last September, according to the New York Times.
The U.S. officials said they had no evidence that Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy or other Ukrainian government officials were involved in the pipeline bombings, the Times reported on Tuesday.
The explosions on the pipelines from Russia to Germany happened on September 26 in the exclusive economic...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) The Ukraine crisis seems to be driven by an invisible hand pushing for the protraction and escalation of the conflict, according to China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang.
The “invisible hand” is “using the Ukraine crisis to serve certain geopolitical agendas,” Qin said at a press conference on the sidelines of the country’s annual parliamentary meeting in Beijing.
He called for dialogue to begin as soon as possible.
“Conflict, sanctions, and pressure will not...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) A massive fire raced through a crammed refugee camp for Rohingya people in southern Bangladesh, leaving thousands homeless, a fire official and the United Nations said.
At least 2,000 huts were damaged or burned by the fire that broke out on Sunday, officials from the Balukhali fire department told Al Jazeera.
The blaze hit Camp 11 in Cox’s Bazar, a border district where more than one million Rohingya refugees live, with most...
(BBC News) China will increase military spending by more than 7% this year, while warning of "escalating" threats.
It was announced at the National People's Congress (NPC), a rubber-stamp parliament, which is due to confirm President Xi Jinping's third term.
Beijing's stated military budget of around $225 billion is still dwarfed by that of the United States, which is about four times greater.
But analysts believe China downplays how much it spends on defence.
Outgoing Premier Li Keqiang...
(SciDev.net) Researchers in South Africa are feeling the effects of the country's continuing power cuts and fear for the impact the electricity crisis is having on their research output. The crisis is due to aging infrastructure, poor management by state-owned power utility Eskom, poor investment in the power sector, and limited energy sources
Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd., South Africa's main energy provider, has been implementing what is termed load shedding, by imposing power cuts for a number of hours...
(Al Jazeera Media Network) Colombia’s Defence Minister Ivan Velasquez and the commander of its armed forces, Helder Giraldo, have landed in Caqueta province to seek the release of dozens of police officers and oilfield workers taken hostage during deadly protests.
At least 79 police officers and nine oilfield workers have been held since Thursday, as protesters demand that the oil company Emerald Energy invest in surrounding rural communities.
An officer and civilian died in confrontations between riot police...
(BBC News) U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has told his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to "end this war of aggression" against Ukraine.
The remarks are the first Blinken has made face to face to Lavrov since the start of Russia's invasion more than a year ago.
The two met briefly on the sidelines of the G20 summit in India's capital Delhi on Thursday.
Blinken raised the case of Paul Whelan, a U.S. citizen detained in Russia.
A...
One of Greece's worst rail disasters, which claimed at least 43 lives, was due to "tragic human error," the country's prime minister has said.
PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke after visiting the site of Tuesday night's head-on collision between a passenger service and a freight train.
The local stationmaster has been charged with manslaughter. The Greek transport minister has resigned.
Rescue teams are continuing to search for survivors.
The accident happened just before midnight on Tuesday. The passenger train...
