Month: October 2024

State prosecutors in the country of Georgia said Wednesday that they had initiated an investigation into Saturday’s parliamentary election amid claims that the vote was rigged.   The Georgian Dream ruling party won the election with 54% of the vote, according to the electoral commission, a figure that would give the party a clear majority in Parliament. The opposition alleged the election was rigged. Western countries and international observers also raised concerns, citing instances of voter intimidation, vote buying, double voting and violence. The opposition took its protest to the streets of Tbilisi early this week in a rally condemning …

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Pentagon and United Nations — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his South Korean counterpart, Kim Yong-hyun, urged North Korea on Wednesday to withdraw from Russia an estimated 10,000 troops, which both countries believe are headed to fight alongside Russia in its war in Ukraine. “They’re doing this because [Russian President Vladimir] Putin has lost a lot of troops, a lot of troops. And, you know, he has a choice of either getting other people to help him, or he can mobilize. And he doesn’t want to mobilize, because then the people in Russia will begin to understand the extent of …

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WASHINGTON — Reports that billionaire Elon Musk has been talking on a consistent basis with Russian President Vladimir Putin are still reverberating among current and former U.S. officials, almost a week after news of the conversations first surfaced. Musk, who owns electric car maker Tesla and the X social media platform, also owns SpaceX, a commercial spaceflight company that has numerous contracts with the U.S. government, doing work for the Department of Defense and U.S. space agency NASA. Some of that work is so sensitive that the United States has given Musk high-level security clearances due to his knowledge of the …

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LONDON — Britain has detected its first case of new mpox variant clade Ib, the country’s health security agency (UKHSA) said Wednesday, adding that the risk to the population remained low.   The clade Ib variant is a new form of the virus that was declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organization (WHO) in August after an outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo spread to neighboring countries in Africa.   The case, in a patient who had recently traveled to affected countries in Africa, was detected in London and the individual has been transferred to a specialist hospital, the …

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China’s response to Russia’s growing influence over North Korea and its leader, Kim Jong Un, likely combines “exasperation” and “panic” as Beijing appears to be losing control over its client state, according to former U.S. policy and intelligence officials. They noted that the explicit security partnership between China’s two neighbors —Russia and North Korea — could undermine China’s strategic position in East Asia and has long-term implications that are not beneficial for China. On Wednesday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry announced that North Korean Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui will hold “strategic consultations” in Moscow with Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, as …

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London — Thousands of Russians, including soldiers, have fled their country to seek asylum in the West since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, although only a fraction of asylum applications has been approved. However, in a landmark case, France has allowed several Russian army deserters to enter the country to seek refugee status. Anti-war activists hope it will prompt more Russian soldiers to flee. Alexander, who does not want to give his family name for fear of political retaliation, is among the six Russian men and four of their partners permitted to enter France in recent months. He and his wife, …

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MADRID — Several bodies have been recovered by emergency service workers in Spain’s eastern region of Valencia after torrential rains triggered flash floods, the head of the regional government said Wednesday. “We can confirm that some bodies have already been found,” Carlos Mazon told reporters, without saying how many. Authorities could not give further details until relatives had been informed, he added. Heavy rain lashed much of eastern and southern Spain on Tuesday, flooding streets with muddy water and disrupting rail and air travel. Images shot by residents with smartphones and broadcast on Spanish TV showed raging waters washing away cars …

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