China begins building nuclear reactor with 52 billion kWh annual output
China has officially begun construction on its first nuclear reactor unit of the year with the pouring of first concrete at the Lufeng Nuclear Power Plant in Guangdong province.
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Vladimir Putin Dumps Cold Water on Trump’s Bragging About Ukraine
Despite Donald Trump’s boasting about peace talks, the Russian president just showed who’s really in control.
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US aligns with Russia in UN vote on Ukraine
US support for Moscow resolution, rejection of EU’s, illustrates deepening division between Washington and allies.
#News #Aljazeera
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FedEx flight catches fire after colliding with bird during takeoff from Newark airport
FedEx Flight 3609 declared an emergency and returned safely to Newark Saturday morning, according to FedEx. No injuries were reported, officials said.
A FedEx cargo plane traveling from Newark to Indianapolis struck a bird during takeoff Saturday morning, according to officials.
FedEx Flight 3609 struck the bird while departing, damaging one of the Boeing 767's engines, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement.
#NBCNews #News #FedEx
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Trump moves to suspend security clearances of lawyers at DC law firm helping Jack Smith
President Donald Trump on Tuesday ordered the suspension of any security clearances held by lawyers at a prominent Washington law firm who provided legal services to special counsel Jack Smith, the latest move in the Republican’s campaign of retribution over the criminal investigations that dogged him before he returned to office.
Trump’s memo signed at the White House seeks to punish the law firm Covington & Burling days after it was revealed that the firm provided pro bono legal services to Smith, who charged Trump in two criminal cases that were later dismissed after Trump won back the presidency in November.
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Maduro warns he’ll call for a ‘new revolution’ if forced by ‘North American imperialism’
Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro warned Wednesday that he will not hesitate to call on the population for a “new revolution” if forced by what he calls “North American imperialism and fascist criminals.”
Maduro’s comments come amid deadly protests across the country following its disputed presidential election victory, which the US and several other countries have refused to recognize.
“I would not like to go to other ways of making revolution, I say it solemnly from political power, we want to continue the path that [Hugo] Chavez outlined,” Maduro said in Caracas during a press conference with international media.
“But if North American imperialism and fascist criminals force us, my pulse will not tremble to call the people to a new revolution with other characteristics,” he added.
The president’s comments come just hours after US National Security spokesman John Kirby called on Maduro to “come clean” on Sunday’s election.
“Our patience, and that of the international community, is running out on waiting for the Venezuelan electoral authorities to come clean and release the full, detailed data on this election so everyone can see the results,” Kirby told reporters during Wednesday’s White House press briefing.
Kirby said the US and other nations share “serious concerns of the reports of casualties, violence and arrests, including the arrests warrants that Maduro and his representatives issued today (Wednesday) for opposition leaders.”
“Alongside the international community, we are watching, and we are going to respond accordingly,” Kirby said.
20 ‘credible reports’ of deaths
The Venezuelan leader’s comments came as Human Rights Watch (HRW) said it had received 20 “credible reports” of deaths connected to the nationwide protests over the election results.
“We are working to document and corroborate each case,” Juanita Goebertus, HRW Director for the Americas, wrote on X.
Foro Penal, a local NGO, reported on Tuesday that a total of 11 people have died during the protests.
Of those killed, five died in Caracas, two in Zulia and Yaracuy, and one in Aragua and Tachira, the head of Foro Penal, Alfredo Romero, told reporters on Tuesday.
CNN has reached out to Venezuela’s Public Prosecutor for comment.
So far, the Venezuelan government has not published any information regarding the death of civilians.
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After Mass Firings and Ebola Funding Cut, Trump Asks if Anyone Is Unhappy with Elon – Cabinet Responds with Laughter and Applause
After firing approximately 30,000 federal employees, admitting to accidentally stopping Ebola funding, sending emails to over 1 million federal employees asking them to list their weekly accomplishments, Trump ask is anyone unhappy with Elon and his Cabinet responds with laughter and applause.
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One killed and several injured in suspected car ramming in Mannheim, Germany
An 83-year-old woman and a 54-year-old man were killed and several more people were injured Monday in a suspected car ramming in the west German city of Mannheim, officials said.
A suspect was identified and arrested, Mannheim police said in a statement. A spokesperson for the state interior ministry in Stuttgart said the suspect is a 40-year-old German man who lives in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Police said at this time "it is not assumed that there is a political background."
The attack happened around 12:15 p.m local time. Five people were seriously injured, police said in a news release. Five others suffered minor injuries. They were all taken to different hospitals.
A major police operation was underway and people were urged to avoid the city center, which has been busy due to an ongoing carnival season. The Mannheimer Morgan newspaper spoke to an eyewitness who saw a car drive into several pedestrians.
#Germany #News #NBC
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How Trump is laying the groundwork for rejecting the election result if he loses
Mr Trump has repeatedly told his supporters to make sure the Democrats don't cheat in this year's election - just one example of how he is trying to undermine confidence in the legitimacy of the very democratic process in which he is competing.
Next week's Democratic National Convention in Chicago will be characterised by a mood of relief among delegates.
The switch of candidate from the aged Joe Biden to his vice president Kamala Harris has put the party back in contention in this year's general election, when it seemed set to be flattened by Donald Trump's re-election bid for the presidency.
It still looks like a close race. And even if Ms Harris wins the vote she may not become president.
Much may also hang on how strongly Democratic candidates lower down the ticket perform. It may fall to the US Congress to uphold the constitution.
If Mr Trump "loses" to Ms Harris there are still arguably legitimate ways in which he could end up back in the White House.
Trump loyalists are already preparing for this fight - egged on with carefully unspecific rhetorical encouragement in rambling comments of the man himself.
Whether Mr Trump's protests against his defeat in 2020 amounted to a "Big Lie" or evidence of a "Big Steal", as a majority of Republicans now claim, he is preparing to do it again, if he loses.
At the very least America would be plunged into political and legal chaos, again, for months after the approaching election on 5 November.
It could be much worse. This month President Biden told CBS he is "not confident at all" that there will be a peaceful transition if Ms Harris is elected president.
"Now if I don't get elected it's gonna be a bloodbath," Mr Trump told an audience in March, leaving it ambiguous whether he was only talking about the prospects for the car industry there in Dayton, Ohio.
Lesser politicians are clumsier.
Republican Ohio state senator George Lang apologised after declaring: "I'm afraid if we lose, it's going to take a civil war to save this country."
He did not withdraw his praise for "Bikers for Trump" or the slogan "Fight! Fight! Fight!", also mouthed by Mr Trump, fist aloft, after the assassination attempt on his life.
How Trump could win with the least votes - again
To win the presidency the successful candidate does not necessarily have to get the most votes from the people.
The victor needs the support of a majority of the electoral college - at least 270 out of 538.
Technically the election votes decide the make-up of the college, state by state. Membership does not directly reflect the views of the overall US population.
Republican nominees defeated in the popular vote, including Mr Trump and George W Bush, have become US president in three of the last seven elections.
In 2000, the dispute over Florida went to the US Supreme Court, which ruled in Mr Bush's favour. Since then Mr Trump has made three appointments which have tilted the court in his favour. The justices are likely to back him if there are any legal disputes.
Former president trying to sow seeds of chaos
Mr Trump repeatedly tells his rallies that they have to do two things - they have to vote and they have to make sure that the Democrats don't cheat.
This is just one example of how he is trying to undermine confidence in the legitimacy of the very democratic process in which he is competing. He is laying the ground in advance to challenge the results if they do not go in his favour.
The strategy is a familiar one in modern US campaigns, first formulated by the Republican strategist Roger Stone as "Stop the Steal" back in 2016, in case things did not go Mr Trump's way.
They did and at the end of his presidency, Mr Trump commuted Stone's prison sentence for lying to Congress. As shown in the recent TV documentary, A Storm Foretold, Stone was bitterly disappointed that he did not get a full pardon but he has endorsed Mr Trump again in this campaign.
If Mr Trump loses the vote he may still have successfully spread chaos and confusion which calls the results into question.
There are then potential legal routes at state level and subsequently in Congress, which could even overturn the result in his favour.
This year, election officials have until 11 December to certify the results in their state.
#news #USElections
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Japan battles largest wildfire in decades
More than a thousand people have been evacuated as Japan battles its largest wildfire in more than three decades.
The flames are estimated to have spread over about 1,200 hectares (3,000 acres) in the forest of Ofunato in the northern region of Iwate since a fire broke out on Wednesday, according to the Fire and Disaster Management Agency.
“We’re still examining the size of the affected area, but it is the biggest since the 1992 wildfire [in Kushiro, Hokkaido],” an agency spokeperson said.
That fire burned 1,030 hectares, the previous record. About 1,700 firefighters were being mobilised from across the country, the agency said.
Aerial footage from the public broadcaster NHK showed white smoke billowing up and covering an entire mountain.
Local police found the body of one person who had been burned, while more than 1,000 nearby residents have been evacuated and more than 80 buildings had been damaged as of Friday, according to the Ofunato authorities.
#Japan #News #WildFire #TheGuardian
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Patients turned away as doctors hold mass strike in India over rape and murder of trainee medic
Sexual violence against women is a widespread problem in India - many crimes are believed to go unreported due to stigma and a lack of faith in police.
Patients are being turned away from hospitals and clinics across India as more than a million doctors are set to join a strike in protest at the rape and murder of a trainee medic.
The 24-hour strike began at 6am local time (1.30am UK time) with non-emergency treatment such as outpatient appointments and elective procedures cancelled, said the Indian Medical Association (IMA).
The mass walkout paralysed hospitals as staff from medical colleges were drafted in to help with emergency cases.
The strike was triggered by the killing of a 31-year-old trainee doctor, whose body was found on 9 August at the college where she worked in Kolkata.
A police volunteer was arrested but the victim's family believe it was a gang rape and that more people were involved.
The case has drawn comparisons with the notorious rape and murder of a student on a bus in New Delhi in 2012.
People demonstrated near parliament in the capital on Friday - as well as cities including Kolkata, Hyderabad and Mumbai - calling for tougher sentences and guarantees of safety for doctors.
The facility where the doctor was killed, the state-run RG Kar Medical College and Hospital, was attacked on Wednesday.
"Doctors, especially women are vulnerable to violence because of the nature of the profession," said the IMA in a statement on X.
"It is for the authorities to provide for the safety of doctors inside hospitals and campuses."
Sexual violence against women and girls is a widespread problem in India with 31,516 reports of rape in 2022 - a 20% increase on 2021, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.
Many are believed to go unreported due to a stigma over sexual assault and a lack of faith in the police.
The medical college case is being handled by India's central bureau of investigation after state government officers were accused of mishandling the case.
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Since the outbreak of the war, Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán has paid Putin more than €15 billion for Russian gas and oil, becoming the biggest financier of the Russian war in the EU.
Since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war on 24 February 2022, Hungary has purchased gas and oil from Russia for a total of EUR 15.6 billion. According to data from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, an independent research institute in Finland, this makes the Orbán government the largest EU financier of Putin’s war. According to 444.hu, while many EU countries have drastically reduced their dependence on Russian energy sources, Hungary has taken a different path. Italy reduced its Russian gas imports from 43% in 2020 to 5% in 2024.
Austria announced it had found alternative routes, eliminating its dependence on Russian gas. Moreover, the Czech Republic and Poland had previously declared their independence from Russian gas. In contrast, Hungary has increased its gas imports from Russia to unprecedented levels.
#News #DailyNewsHungary
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Zelenskiy says Ukraine should be heard, not forgotten
KYIV, March 1 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Saturday it was "very important" that Ukraine's plight was heard and not forgotten, a day after a heated White House meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.
"It is very important for us that Ukraine is heard and that no one forgets about it, neither during the war nor after,"
#Reuters #News #Zelenskiy
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