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Germany races to secure stricken ‘Russian shadow fleet’ oil tanker

Germany was racing Saturday to secure a heavily loaded tanker stranded off its northern coast, towing the stricken ship it said was part of Russia’s sanctions-busting “shadow fleet” away from shore to avert an oil spill.The 274-metre-long Eventin was sailing from Russia to Egypt with almost 100,000 tonnes of oil on board when its engine …

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Wind lull offers hope in Los Angeles fires as blame game begins

Winds calmed Friday around Los Angeles, providing a fleeting window of opportunity for firefighters battling five major blazes, as official recriminations began over responsibility for the disaster.At least 11 people have died as flames ripped through neighborhoods and razed thousands of homes this week in a disaster that US President Joe Biden likened to a …

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Venezuela’s Maduro sworn in as opponents decry ‘coup,’ US hikes bounty

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was sworn in for a third term Friday in a ceremony decried as illegitimate by the opposition and internationally, with Washington offering a $25 million reward for his arrest.A defiant Maduro, 62, adorned with an oversized yellow, blue and red presidential sash, shrugged off the outcry over his unproven claim to …

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2024 hottest recorded year, crossed global warming limit

The last two years saw average global temperatures exceed a critical warming limit for the first time, Europe’s climate monitor said Friday, as the UN demanded “trail-blazing” climate action.While this does not mean the internationally-agreed 1.5C warming threshold has been permanently breached, the United Nations warned it was in “grave danger”.”Today’s assessment from the World …

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Germany reports foot-and-mouth disease in water buffalo

Germany on Friday registered three cases of foot-and-mouth disease in water buffalo on a farm near Berlin, the country’s first reported cases of the livestock disease since 1988. Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious viral infection that is not dangerous to humans but which affects cattle and other cloven-hoofed animals, including sheep and pigs.Symptoms include fever …

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Venezuela’s Maduro sworn in as opposition decries ‘coup’

Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro was sworn in Friday for a third six-year term rejected by the opposition as a “coup d’etat” achieved through election fraud and a campaign of repression.The opposition accuses Maduro, 62, of stealing the election of July 28 last year, and the United States, European Union and several Latin American countries have …

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