Beijing hospital fire death toll rises to 29

Chinese authorities said on Wednesday they had detained a dozen people over a hospital fire in Beijing that left at least 29 dead and forced desperate survivors to jump out of windows to escape.

Macron heckled on first outing since pension battle

French President Emmanuel Macron was loudly booed by crowds in eastern France on Wednesday as he embarked on his first trip to a French region since signing his unpopular pensions reform into law.

EU adopts ban on imports driving deforestation

The European Parliament adopted a new EU law on Wednesday that will ban imports deemed to be driving deforestation, throwing the bloc’s trade muscle behind a global fight against climate change.

Myanmar air strikes leave dozens dead, including children

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights says he is “horrified” by the strikes in central Myanmar that have killed as many as 100 people. Among the dead are school children who were performing dances.

Harry but no Meghan at King’s coronation: Palace

Prince Harry will attend the coronation in London of his father King Charles III but without his wife Meghan, Buckingham Palace said on Wednesday.

China’s military must strengthen training for ‘actual combat’: Xi

China’s President Xi Jinping called on the country’s armed forces to “strengthen military training oriented towards actual combat”, state media reported Wednesday, after Beijing conducted military drills intended to intimidate Taiwan.

Trump condemns arrest in Mar-a-Lago speech

In a speech from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, former US President Donald Trump railed against New York prosecutors after pleading not guilty to 34 criminal counts, also accusing Democrats of political persecution and “fraudulent investigations.”

China vows to ‘fight back’ if Taiwan’s Tsai meets US Speaker

China vowed on Wednesday to “fight back” should Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen meet the US House Speaker during a trip to the United States.

French authorities raid banks in massive tax fraud case

French authorities raided five banks on Tuesday as part of an investigation into suspected cases of massive tax fraud and money laundering, prosecutors said.

Macron forces through controversial pension reform without parliamentary vote

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday decided to trigger Article 49.3 of the French constitution, which granted the government executive privilege to push through controversial pension reforms without a parliamentary vote.

Ex-PM Khan resists arrest under Pakistan’s ‘law of the jungle’

Legions of Imran Khan’s angry supporters fought off riot police attempting to arrest the former Pakistan prime minister, but the 70-year-old opposition leader insists he is all about law and order.

Biden administration greenlights controversial Willow oil project in Alaska

The Biden administration is approving a scaled-back version ConocoP hillips’ COP.N $7 billion oil and gas drilling project in Alaska, the US Department of Interior said on Monday.

Hundreds of troops killed in battle for Bakhmut city

Ukraine and Russia have claimed that hundreds of enemy troops were killed over the previous 24 hours in the fight for Bakhmut, with Kyiv fending off unabating attacks and a small river that bisects the city now marking the new front line.

Fire rips through world’s largest refugee camp

Authorities in Bangladesh have opened an investigation into the circumstances which led to an inferno at a Rohingya refugee camp on Sunday that destroyed around 2,000 shelters and left thousands of people homeless.

Girls’ poisoning ’unforgivable’: Iran’s Khamenei

Iran’s supreme leader said Monday that if a series of suspected poisonings at girls’ schools are proven to be deliberate the culprits should be sentenced to death for committing an “unforgivable crime.”

Greek transport minister resigns after deadly train crash

More than 35 people were killed when two trains collided overnight near the Vale of Tempe. Greek Transport Minister Kostas Karamanlis resigned on Wednesday,

Russia-China relations reaching new milestones: Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin has hailed progress in relations between Moscow and Beijing, arguing that they serve as a lynchpin for international politics.

Israeli troops conduct deadly raid in West Bank city

Israeli troops killed nine Palestinians, including a 72-year-old man, and injured 97 others during a rare daytime raid in the West Bank city of Nablus on Wednesday, according to Palestinian health officials.

Death toll from Turkey, Syria quakes tops 19,000

The death toll from the catastrophic earthquakes that hit Turkey and Syria rose to more than 19,000 on Thursday as more bodies were pulled from the rubble of collapsed homes in the stricken zone, Turkey’s disaster management agency said on Thursday.

N.Korea unveils record number of missiles

North Korea has again flexed its muscles, with a display in its capital Pyongyang on Wednesday of what experts soon observed was the largest number of intercontinental ballistic missiles that it has ever paraded.

Ukrainian interior minister killed in helicopter crash

Ukrainian Interior Minister Denis Monastyrsky has been killed, police confirmed on Wednesday, after a helicopter he was traveling in crashed in a residential area in the town of Brovary near Kiev.

EU sets up ‘nuclear’ stockpile on Russian border

The European Commission announced on Tuesday that it will set up the first strategic reserve of equipment and supplies, available to any EU member in response to potential chemical or nuclear incidents. The stockpile will be located in Finland, within easy reach of the Baltic states.

UN’s top woman envoy in Afghanistan for talks on Taliban crackdown

Senior UN officials have arrived in Kabul for talks as the United Nations chief voiced concern over the Taliban’s creation of “gender-based apartheid,” a UN spokesman said Tuesday.

China’s first population drop in six decades sounds alarm on demographic crisis

China’s population shrank last year for the first time in more than six decades, official data showed Tuesday, as the world’s most populous nation faces a looming demographic crisis.

Tanks UK sending to Ukraine won’t make ‘significant difference’: MP

The number of tanks the UK is set to send to Ukraine is not enough to defeat Russia, British Conservative MP Bob Seely said on Tuesday, calling for significantly more heavy equipment to be supplied to Kiev’s forces.

Far-right group militants go on trial for Macron assassination plot

A dozen people with links to a French far-right group go on trial Tuesday, accused of plotting to assassinate President Emmanuel Macron and commit a string of other attacks.

Poland to send western-made tanks to Ukraine: President

Warsaw intends to hand over German-made tanks to Kiev, as part of “coalition building,” Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Wednesday during a visit to Ukraine.

US flights gradually resuming after FAA issue

US flights were slowly beginning to resume departures and a ground stop was lifted after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) scrambled to fix a system outage overnight that forced a halt to all US departing flights.

Brazil police amass at protest camp after capital stormed

Brazilian police deployed at a camp of supporters of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro in the capital on Monday, a day after rioters launched the worst attack on Brazil’s state institutions since its return to democracy in the 1980s.

Iran sentences three more to death over Amini protests

Iran has sentenced to death three more people accused of killing members of the security forces during protests triggered by Mahsa Amini’s death, the judiciary said Monday.