Author: Publisher
Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (4th left) poses with members of the Air Force in front of a supersonic aircraft during its unveiling ceremony…
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr speaks during a press conference after declaring a state of national emergency amid rising fuel prices due to the ongoing conflict…
Iraq are bidding to reach the World Cup for only the second time, having qualified for the 1986 finals in Mexico where they lost all three…
People hold placards as ABC staff and journalists strike outside the national broadcaster’s headquarters in Sydney, Australia, Wednesday.(Reuters) Hundreds of staff at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation began a one-day strike Wednesday, the first walkout in 20 years, over pay and working conditions, disrupting live news coverage at the public broadcaster.Live programming was diverted to content from the UK broadcaster BBC when the strike began at 11:00am (0000 GMT).Flagship programmes on TV and radio were also expected to be replaced by reruns during the 24-hour strike. Journalists and staff walk out of the…
Mercedes’ British driver George Russell poses for photos in his car during preparations ahead of the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix at the Shanghai International Circuit…
File photo: Bear, an Australian koolie, scanning the Two Thumbs Wildlife Trust Sanctuary for koalas in the Numeralla, Peak View and Nerriga areas of New South…
Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan celebrates after defeating Jessica Pegula of the United States in their Miami Open quarter-final at Hard Rock Stadium Wednesday. (AFP) World number two Elena Rybakina rallied to overcome fifth-ranked Jessica Pegula 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 Wednesday to reach the WTA and ATP Miami Open semi-finals. Reigning Australian Open champion Rybakina, a 26-year-old from Kazakhstan, fired 12 aces in beating the American, last year’s Miami runner-up, for their fifth consecutive meeting. Rybakina next will play the winner of a later quarter-final between world number one Aryna Sabalenka, the defending champion from Belarus, and 45th-ranked American Hailey Baptiste, trying to reach her second WTA semi-final. Rybakina improved to 6-3 all-time against Pegula, including an Indian Wells quarter-final and semi-finals of the Australian Open and last year’s WTA Finals on the way to titles. Pegula, who won last month’s WTA title in Dubai, broke twice to begin the match with a 4-0 lead when Rybakina netted a forehand in the opening game and sent a forehand long in the third. Pegula held twice more to take the first set in 35 minutes when Rybakina netted a backhand, the American making only two unforced errors in the opening set. Rybakina missed three overhead smashes in the fifth game of the second set but held serve then broke when Pegula swatted a forehand long for a 4-2 edge on the way to forcing a third set. Rybakina broke Pegula to open the third set and stayed in command to advance after two hours and 15 minutes. Sabalenka, who will face Baptiste for the first time, has not lost to an unseeded opponent since she fell to Czech Marketa Vondrousova in last June’s Berlin semi-finals. Sabalenka won titles this year at Brisbane and Indian Wells. Her only 2026 loss was to Rybakina in the Australian Open final. It will be the 32nd career WTA quarter-final for Sabalenka. Baptiste, who lost to Rybakina in the second round at Indian Wells, has captured four straight matches, the longest win streak of her WTA career. Her best WTA finish was a run to the Abu Dhabi semi-finals. Earlie, Coco Gauff battled past Belinda Bencic to reach the semi-finals for the first time on Tuesday with a gruelling 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 victory. Fourth seed Gauff had considered skipping Miami after being forced to pull out during the fourth round at Indian Wells with a left-arm injury. But the 22-year-old from Florida, who lives in nearby Delray Beach, was determined to play in what she considers to be her hometown tournament where she had never previously gone further than the last 16. Gauff’s sense of determination was on full display at the Hard Rock Stadium’s main court on Tuesday as she weathered fluctuating form against the 12th-seeded Bencic to grind out victory. “I honestly didn’t think I would be in the semis so I’m really happy and proud of myself,” Gauff said. “I think I proved a lot to myself this week, and I feel like with each match I’m getting better. “Even though I’m still playing three sets, I feel like the level is getting better and better.” Gauff, the French Open champion, will now face the Czech 13th seed Karolina Muchova in the last four as she chases her first Miami final appearance. Gauff has won all five of her previous matches against Muchova. “You don’t think about the head-to-head,” Gauff said. “There’s so many matches that we play that could go either way. I don’t really think about it — especially when I play here, because I know how good she is.” Muchova advanced to the last four earlier with a 7-5, 7-6 (7/5) defeat of Canadian 10th seed Victoria Mboko. The 29-year-old Muchova admitted she had everything to prove against Gauff. “I don’t have the best record against Coco, but I feel good,” Muchova said. “And you never know.” Despite giving away 10 years to the teenaged Mboko, Muchova said she did not feel any sense of disadvantage against her younger opponent. “I keep getting these questions this week like I’m really old or something,” Muchova said. “I don’t feel that old – I feel like I’m still pretty young. In my head, I could be 20.” Related…
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and North Korean leader Kim Jong-unn attend a welcome ceremony at Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday. (Reuters) North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Pyongyang Wednesday with a white-horse cavalry and 21-gun salute, cementing ties between two close allies of Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Kim has provided Moscow with millions of rounds of ammunition for its war in Ukraine and sent troops to help Russia expel Ukrainian forces who invaded its western Kursk region. Lukashenko allowed Belarus to be used as a launchpad for Russia’s invasion in February 2022, and subsequently agreed to host Russian tactical nuclear missiles on its territory, which borders three Nato alliance countries.Kim greeted Lukashenko with an embrace and laid on a lavish welcome ceremony with ranks of soldiers, cavalry and the gun salute after flag-waving children had cheered his arrival at the airport.Lukashenko’s foreign minister, Maxim Ryzhenkov, told Belarusian state media that the two sides would sign a friendship and cooperation treaty during the two-day visit. Current trade was “modest” but there was potential to boost it in sectors including food and pharmaceuticals, he said.Valery Tsepkalo, a prominent exiled opponent of Lukashenko, said there was no substance to the summit beyond a display of solidarity. “There will be no benefit to Belarus from this visit. The same for North Korea. They are just demonstrating that they’re not isolated and they can have a meeting. They don’t have any normal trade,” he told Reuters.North Korea and Belarus have withstood years of external economic pressure: the former is under UN sanctions because of its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes and the latter is subject to Western sanctions over its human rights record and backing for Putin in Ukraine.”The current situation is simply pushing us into each other’s arms. We’re looking for friends. Friends may be far away, but they are very loyal, reliable, and respectful,” Belarusian minister Ryzhenkov was quoted as saying.Despite the isolation of both countries, US President Donald Trump has engaged with their leaders. Trump met Kim three times in 2018 and 2019, during his first term in the White House, but their encounters failed to yield substantive results. Trump said last year he would “love another meeting”, which Kim said could happen if the US dropped its “absurd obsession” with getting North Korea to give up nuclear weapons.Trump last year re-established direct contact with Lukashenko, who had been treated as a pariah by his predecessor Joe Biden. In recent months, the US has begun to ease sanctions on Belarus in return for releases of political prisoners. Lukashenko’s trip to North Korea comes six days after he met Trump’s envoy John Coale and announced the freeing of 250 more detainees. The US side has said Lukashenko may soon visit the White House. …
Germany’s Kai Havertz attends a press conference Wednesday, ahead of the friendly against Switzerland in Herzogenaurach. (AFP) Germany forward Kai Havertz is close to his best form again after several injuries in the past 12 months, and a successful Arsenal run across three competitions in the coming months will be the best preparation for the World Cup, he said Wednesday. Havertz, who has been away from the national team for more than a year after missing last year’s internationals through injury, is part of the Germany squad to face Switzerland on Friday and Ghana three days later. “I had a tough time. It was not easy for me,” Havertz told a press conference ahead of Germany’s friendly against hosts Switzerland. “I had my first injury in February last year, three and a half months out then comeback and then a setback with the knee injury,” he added. Havertz returned to action for the Premier League leaders Arsenal in January after being sidelined since August last year, but the 26-year-old said he was ready for his club’s busy match schedule in the league, the FA Cup and the Champions League. “I now feel completely fit. I need the one or other game from the start to reach 100 percent but I feel fit to start lasting over 90 minutes,” he said. Havertz added that Arsenal’s busy schedule came just at the right time. “We have many matches in three competitions. I missed the first six months of the season and I will give it all for the club, and to be able to go with a lot of confidence to the World Cup. I want to be successful at this World Cup and lead the way,” he said. Germany have set their sights on winning the World Cup following shock group-stage exits in 2018 and 2022, determined to restore their reputation as a global football powerhouse. The tournament starts in June and is co-hosted by Mexico, the United States and Canada. The Germans, who have not reached a final in any major international tournament since winning their fourth World Cup in 2014 in Brazil, have been drawn in Group E with Ecuador, Curacao and Ivory Coast for the June 11-July 19 tournament. They play their opening World Cup match in Houston, Texas on June 14 against Curacao. Germany then travel to Toronto on June 20 to take on Ivory Coast before their last group game against Ecuador in New York on June 25. Related Story Source link
The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has unanimously ratified a resolution condemning the human rights implications of Iran’s missile and drone attacks on Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, and Jordan. The resolution, adopted without a vote, was co-sponsored by more than 100 countries.The decision followed an urgent debate convened by the Council in Geneva on Wednesday, during which Qatar’s Her Excellency Permanent Representative to the UN Office in Geneva, Dr Hind Abdulrahman al-Muftah, delivered a robust condemnation of the strikes on behalf of Doha.Qatar described the attacks as a flagrant violation of its national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and a direct breach of the UN Charter’s prohibition on the threat or use of force. Al-Muftah told the Council the debate had been convened under “extremely perilous circumstances,” warning that the ripple effects of Iran’s offensive threatened not only regional stability but the full enjoyment of human rights across the affected nations.She stressed that the strikes — targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure — were in clear violation of international humanitarian and human rights law. Critical facilities struck included airports, ports, energy installations, and water desalination plants. Qatar itself sustained ballistic missile and drone strikes that caused civilian casualties, injuries, and widespread disruption to basic services including water and energy supplies — breaches, she said, of the rights to life, health, education, and safety.HE Al Muftah further warned that attacks on energy and desalination infrastructure carried grave environmental consequences, undermining the right to a clean and sustainable environment. She noted that the most vulnerable — women, children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities — were disproportionately affected, in contravention of international conventions designed to protect them.The Qatari representative also raised alarm over strikes targeting maritime shipping lanes, including the Strait of Hormuz, cautioning that disruption to one of the world’s most critical waterways would have far-reaching consequences for global supply chains, energy security, and the socioeconomic rights of nations worldwide.HE Al-Muftah underscored that Qatar had played no part in the underlying conflict and had not permitted its territory or airspace to be used in any combat operations, making Iran’s targeting of Qatari soil a particularly egregious violation of international law. Qatar, she noted, had consistently pursued dialogue and mediation as its preferred approach to regional disputes.She welcomed UN Security Council Resolution 2817 (2026), which formally condemned Iran’s attacks and determined they constituted a serious threat to international peace and security, and called for effective remedies and full reparations for victims and affected states.Concluding her address, Al-Muftah urged an immediate halt to the escalation and called on all parties to prioritise diplomatic solutions. She appealed to Council member states to back the resolution and reaffirm the international community’s commitment to upholding human rights, halting violations, and ensuring such attacks are never repeated. Related Story Source link