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US court orders NKorea to pay $2.3 bn over 1968 USS Pueblo seizure
Washington (AFP) - A US court has ordered North Korea to pay damages to the crew and family of the spy ship USS Pueblo, who were tortured and mistreated for 11 months in 1968 after being captured by the North Korean navy. The Washington federal court said that the surviving members of the crew and families of those now dead are owed compensatory damages for confinement and suffering of $1.15 billion and doubled that for punitive damages against Pyongyang. It said many of the 83-strong crew, one of whom was killed by the North Koreans when they seized the Pueblo on January 23, 1968, were mental...
AFP
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Jennifer Granholm confirmed as energy secretary in bipartisan Senate vote
Former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm is officially headed back to political office. Ten years after her second term as governor ended, Granholm on Thursday was confirmed as President Joe Biden's energy secretary, taking over as head of a multibillion-dollar agency that oversees national laboratories, the U.S. nuclear arsenal and plays a significant role in funding technological innovation and adoption of new technologies. The U.S. Senate voted 64-35 to confirm Granholm. All 48 Democrats, including Sens. Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, both D-Mich., voted in favor of her nomination as did th...
Detroit Free Press
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Merkel: Vaccine certificate will take 3 months to create
It will take around three months to create a Covid-19 vaccination certificate, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said, following a virtual meeting with her 26 EU counterparts. The European Commission had already done some preliminary technical work, but it would take another three months to develop such a digital certificate, she said. This could build the basis for the travel of third country nationals to the bloc, she said. And while the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic should be over by summer, she said, inoculations might have to continue for much longer because of emerging mutations. Countrie...
DPA
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Enhanced US Capitol security amid threats to Biden speech: police
Washington (AFP) - Enhanced security measures should remain in place at the US Capitol amid threats by militia members to stage an attack during President Joe Biden's expected State of the Union address, the acting Capitol police chief said Thursday. "We know that the insurrectionists that attacked the Capitol weren't only interesting in attacking members of Congress and officers," Yogananda Pittman said at a congressional hearing into the January 6 attack on the Capitol by supporters of then-president Donald Trump. "They wanted to send a symbolic message to the nation as to who was in charge ...
AFP
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New York mayor demands inquiry into Cuomo sexual harassment claims
New York (AFP) - New York City's mayor on Thursday joined a growing chorus of politicians calling for an investigation into sexual harassment allegations made against Governor Andrew Cuomo. Lindsey Boylan, a former aide to Cuomo, accused the governor of sexually harassing her when she worked for his administration from 2015 to 2018 in a blog post published Wednesday. She says Cuomo kissed her on the mouth without consent, suggested they played strip poker during a flight and went "out of his way to touch me on my lower back, arms and legs." Cuomo's office said in a statement carried by US medi...
AFP
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New York prosecutors finally obtain Trump's tax records
New York (AFP) - New York prosecutors investigating former president Donald Trump's finances have finally received his tax returns following a marathon legal battle, a spokesman said Thursday. "Our office obtained the records on Monday," Danny Frost, a spokesman for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, told AFP. Vance's office obtained the returns after the Supreme Court rejected Monday a last-ditch bid by Trump's lawyers to block the release of the records. The prosecutor is investigating hush payments made to two women who allege they had affairs with Trump and possible fraud. Vance, a D...
AFP
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New York prosecutors obtain Trump's tax records: spokesman
New York (AFP) - New York prosecutors investigating former president Donald Trump's finances have received his tax returns following a marathon legal battle, a spokesman said Thursday. "Our office obtained the records on Monday," Danny Frost, a spokesman for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, told AFP. Vance's office obtained the returns after the Supreme Court on Monday rejected a last-ditch bid by Trump's lawyers to block the release of the records. The prosecutor is investigating hush payments made to two women who allege they had affairs with Trump and possible fraud. Vance, a Democr...
AFP
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Austria's Kurz predicts national virus passports if EU cannot agree
If the European Union cannot agree on benefits for people who are vaccinated, tested or immune from a coronavirus infection, Austria and like-minded countries will soon go ahead with such measures, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said. "I think that this project has to be implemented in spring - if not in all of Europe, we will have to do it on a national level, and with agreements with other countries that have similar policies," he told a press conference ahead of talks among the bloc's 27 leaders. He stressed that his planned "digital green passport" on people's mobile phones could offer...
DPA
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Nuclear issue key as Iran readies for Rouhani replacement
Tehran (AFP) - Iran will vote in June for a successor to President Hassan Rouhani and his moderate-reformist government, but politics in the country is dominated by the nuclear issue and no frontrunner has emerged. Several conservative heavyweights are thought to be considering running in the key June 18 race, with the winner to help set the direction of the Islamic republic. "For the moment, the electoral atmosphere remains cold," political analyst Amir Mohebian told AFP, adding that when politicians "try to warm it up, people are not paying attention." Following the election of US President...
AFP
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Armenians rally as premier accuses military of coup attempt
In the midst of a domestic political crisis, the Armenian military has sided with the opposition and demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who in turn accused the generals of attempting a military coup. "It is the clear conviction and stance of the generals and officers, with one purpose – to serve for the salvation of our homeland at this critical moment," the Armenian Armed Forces said in a statement cited by news agency Armenpress. "The prime minister and the government are no longer able to make reasonable decisions," the military said in an earlier statement. Pashiny...
DPA
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