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Power was restored in parts of the Dominican Republic on Tuesday after a countrywide outage hit earlier in the day and brought the country to a standstill, officials said. Generation units in San Pedro de Macorís and the Quisqueya Power Plant shut down, triggering a domino effect at other transmission and generation plants, according to the Dominican Electricity Transmission Company, a decentralized state agency. The nationwide blackout disrupted mass transit systems, including aerial cable cars and the metro in the capital, Santo Domingo, where some people were forced to leave the train and begin walking through tunnels alongside the railway. Electricity sector authorities said some public transportation services had resumed in parts of the capitalImage: Eddy Vittini/AFP Many hospital...

Bogdan Leonov, a Russian national, is building a chain of power-bank rental stations in Cyprus and Greece, and setting up a franchise in Portugal.   His WE53 startup, launched in 2023, has already seen annual revenues rise to about €600,000 ($693,000) and it now employs dozens of people. The network currently boasts almost 3,000 stations. His previous brainchild provided the same service in Russia.Between Russia and Germany — Arts.UnveiledTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video But setting up a business abroad was particularly challenging as he had to learn all operational activities by himself, from scratch. Even "repeating" one's own success in a new environment was far from easy. "You can't copy-paste barely anyt...

French authorities threatened to block Chinese online store Shein on Monday over the presence of a sex doll with "childlike" features on its website.  The French consumer watchdog said descriptions for such products on the Shein website "make it difficult to doubt the child pornographic nature of the content." The French daily newspaper Le Parisien said the product in question — an 80 centimeter (30 inch) tall doll holding a teddy bear — was accompanied by an explicitly sexual description on the Shein website. How has Shein reacted to the French threat? In a statement late on Monday, Shein announced "a total ban on sex-doll type products" and the removal of previous listings of such items. The Paris prosecutors' office said it had opened an investigation into Shein, along with rival r...

Peru announced on Monday that it had cut off diplomatic ties with Mexico over the asylum claim of former Peruvian Prime Minister Betssy Chávez, who is facing charges in her homeland over the alleged 2022 coup attempt by then President Pedro Castillo. "Today we learned with surprise and deep regret that former Prime Minister Betssy Chavez, the alleged co-author of the coup d'etat attempted by former President Pedro Castillo (2021-2022), is being granted asylum at the residence of the Mexican Embassy in Peru," Peruvian Foreign Minister Hugo de Zela said at a news conference. 'Unfriendly act' De Zela described Mexico's decision as an "unfriendly act," before adding, "considering the repeated instances in which the current and former presidents of that country have interfered in Peru's inte...

A worker who was pulled from the rubble of a medieval tower that partly collapsed in Rome has died, Italian media and officials reported. The man, a Romanian national, had remained conscious during the lengthy rescue operation before being hospitalized, according to authorities. "Resuscitation attempts were made for about an hour to save Octay Stroici," Italian news agency ANSA said, citing the Umberto I hospital. "Despite this, spontaneous cardiac activity could not be restored" and his "death was pronounced at 12:20 am (2320 GMT)." Romania's Foreign Ministry mourned its national's death on Tuesday. "Despite the sustained efforts of the medical teams in Rome, Octav Stroici, who had been trapped under the rubble of a historic building undergoing restoration works, has sadly passed awa...

Kim Yong Nam, the former ceremonial head of North Korea for over two decades, has died at the age of 97, state media reported on Tuesday. State broadcaster Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that the former diplomat died of multiple organ failure on Monday. Kim Jong Un visited his remains "to express deep condolences over his death," it said. The country will hold a state funeral for him on Thursday. He was known for his diplomacy, reverence to the Kim family and his trademark propaganda speeches. Who was Kim Yong Nam? Born in 1928, Kim Yong Nam served in key foreign ministry positions. He played a vital role in shaping North Korea's diplomatic approach under the nation's founder Kim Il Sung. He went on to serve as the president of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assemb...

The Latvian Parliament on Thursday voted to withdraw from the Istanbul Convention, an international treaty aimed at supporting women who are victims of violence. The tally from the ballot was 56 to withdraw from the treaty, 32 to remain, and two abstentions. Is the vote set in stone? The vote, which came after a 13-hour session of intense debate, would make Latvia the first European Union member state to quit the Istanbul Convention, which the very same parliament ratified in November 2024. The motion must now be signed by Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics, who has indicated he is not in favor. He has, however, also hinted that he might not subvert a parliamentary decision. The Council of Europe treaty came into force in Latvia last year and is intended to standardize support for wom...

Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed Thursday to extend a ceasefire following peace talks in Istanbul, after their deadliest border clashes in years. A follow-up round of negotiations will be held in Istanbul next week, Turkey's Foreign Ministry said. According to the ministry, both sides would meet again on November 6 to finalize a monitoring mechanism to "ensure maintenance of peace and imposing penalty on the violating party." The peace talks, mediated by Turkey and Qatar, had faltered earlier this week, with the Afghan state media blaming the "unreasonable demands of the Pakistani side." Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the talks had concluded and said Afghanistan sought "good relations with Pakistan based on mutual respect and non-interference." The Pakistan government h...

Taking center stage at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders' summit in South Korea on Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping called for protection of the multilateral trading system and deeper economic cooperation. "Changes unseen in a century are accelerating across the world," Xi told leaders assembled in the South Korean city of Gyeongju. "The rougher the seas, the more we must pull together," Xi said, seeking to present China as a defender of global free trade amid protectionist policies pushed by the US. Earlier this month, Xi threatened to choke off rare earth exports, which are a critical component of high-tech items like smartphones. In South Korea, however, Xi told the summit that countries should should adhere to the principle of "extending, rather than breaking"...