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Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, in power since 2013, is due to take the oath of office for a third term Friday despite a global outcry that brought thousands out in protest on the ceremony’s eve.Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who came out of hiding to lead a demonstration in Caracas Thursday, was briefly detained after …

Venezuela’s Maduro to take presidential oath despite domestic, global outcry Read More »

There will be “real-world harm” if Meta expands its decision to scrap fact-checking on Facebook and Instagram, a global network warned Thursday while disputing Mark Zuckerberg’s claim such moderation amounts to censorship.Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s surprise announcement this week to slash content moderation policies in the United States has sparked alarm in countries …

‘Real-world harm’ if Meta ends fact-checks, global network warns Read More »

South Korea’s presidential security chief resigned Friday as he faced questioning over why his guards prevented the detention of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol, and as investigators prepared to make a fresh arrest attempt.Yoon last week resisted arrest in a standoff between his guards and investigators after his short-lived power grab on December 3 plunged …

Security chief of South Korea’s impeached President Yoon resigns Read More »

Research published in The Lancet medical journal on Friday estimates that the death toll in Gaza during the first nine months of the Israel-Hamas war was around 40 percent higher than recorded by the Palestinian territory’s health ministry.The number of dead in Gaza has become a matter of bitter debate since Israel launched its military …

Lancet study estimates Gaza death toll 40% higher than recorded Read More »

South Korea’s presidential security chief resigned Friday as he faced questioning over why his guards prevented the detention of impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol and investigators prepared to make a fresh arrest attempt.Yoon has refused questioning and last week resisted arrest in a stand-off between his guards and investigators after his short-lived power grab on …

South Korea’s presidential security chief resigns Read More »

Nicholas Norman managed to save his home using little more than buckets of water when towering flames ripped through his neighborhood in a suburb of Los Angeles. But now he’s facing a new danger: looters.After surviving the terror of a chaotic wind-driven fire, Norman was at his Altadena house when he saw two suspicious men …

Shotgun watch: LA fire evacuees guard against looters Read More »

With its soldiers trained in France and high-profile endorsements from the French and Ukrainian presidents, the “Anne of Kyiv” brigade was supposed to be a flagship unit for Ukraine’s army.But just months after being created, it finds itself fighting two enemies — Russians across the battlefield and an internal scandal that has shocked the Ukrainian …

Ukraine’s French-trained brigade rocked by scandal Read More »

Donald Trump will be sentenced Friday for covering up hush money payments to a porn star despite the US President-elect’s last-ditch efforts to frustrate a process that would make him the first felon in the White House.The judge has indicated, however, that Trump will not face prison — even though the 34 counts of falsifying …

US President-elect Trump to be sentenced for hush money conviction Read More »

Novak Djokovic has claimed that he was “poisoned” by lead and mercury in his food while he was briefly held in Melbourne in 2022 before being deported on the eve of the Australian Open.The former world number one had his visa cancelled and was eventually kicked out of the country over his refusal to be …

Djokovic claims he was ‘poisoned’ before 2022 Australian Open deportation Read More »

Venezuela pro-democracy figurehead Maria Corina Machado was briefly detained by security forces Thursday after emerging from months of hiding to lead a protest in Caracas, defiantly promising after her release that her country “will be FREE!”The 57-year-old engineer-turned-dissident appeared from among a throng of thousands of opposition supporters in the capital, climbing atop a pickup …

Venezuela opposition claims elusive leader briefly detained in Caracas protest Read More »