AFP Video

Hong Kong (AFP) – Zoila Lecarnaque Saavedra’s fate was sealed after a package with liquid cocaine was found in her luggage upon arrival at Hong Kong International airport. She spent eight years in prison before she could be reunited with her family in Peru. A quarter of Hong Kong’s prisoners are women, a record high percentage skewed by impoverished foreign drug mules who are often duped or coerced. Meanwhile, the real smuggling kingpins who control them rarely see the inside of a cell. “They find people who are in a precarious economic situation,” Lecarnaque Saavedra told AFP. “They look for them and in this case it was me.”

Lussas (France) (AFP) – The fire that ravaged nearly 1,000 hectares of land in the Ardèche region in France on Wednesday without causing any casualties, is expected to be extinguished during the night, with 600 firefighters mobilised. Lieutenant-Colonel Jean-Michel Chalancon believes that the population is not at risk “for now”.

Quebec City (AFP) – Pope Francis decries “ideological colonization” Wednesday and renews his apology to Indigenous peoples for decades of abuse in a speech in Quebec city to Canada’s top officials, who invited him to take further action leading to “real reconciliation.”

Purapul (Kenya) (AFP) – A nutrient-dense peanut paste long used to prevent child starvation in disasters across the globe can mean the difference between life and death in a drought-hit region in Kenya.

Washington (AFP) – After testing negative for Covid-19, US President Joe Biden highlights the importance of vaccines, comparing his quick recovery at the White House to Donald Trump’s hospitalization for the virus.

Quebec City (AFP) – Pope Francis lands in Quebec City, where he will address Canada’s political leaders after dedicating the first part of his journey to apologizing for the abuse of Indigenous children at Catholic-run schools.

Washington (AFP) – Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that the United States has put forward a “substantial” offer to Russia on prisoners as he prepares to speak to his counterpart by telephone.

Washington (AFP) – US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he will urge Russia to fulfill a breakthrough agreement reached last week in Turkey to allow the release of millions of tons of Ukrainian grain.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says US spending and production data “has softened” and consumer spending “slowed significantly”, as the central bank decided to again raise the benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points to tame spiraling price pressures.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says he will speak to his Russian counterpart for the first time since the Ukraine invasion but would narrowly focus the call to priorities including the release of detained Americans.