An injured seabird sought help by pecking at the door of an emergency room at a hospital in Germany until medical staff noticed it and called firefighters to help with its rescue. The cormorant, a shiny black waterbird, had a triple fishing hook stuck in its beak when it made its presence known at the glass door of the Klinikum Links der Weser hospital in the northern city of Bremen on Sunday. In a joint effort, medical staff and firefighters removed the fishhook and treated the wound, the Bremen firefighter department said in a statement. The bird was later released...
FIFA President Infantino Celebrates In Beirut After Receiving A Lebanese Passport
FIFA President Gianni Infantino received a Lebanese passport at the Interior Ministry in Beirut on Monday, months after he was granted citizenship by the country’s president. Infantino, who is married to Lebanese citizen Lina al-Ashkar, thanked President Joseph Aoun at a meeting at the Interior Ministry where Infantino filed documents and had a photograph and fingerprints taken before being handed his new blue Lebanese passport. Infantino also has citizenship in Italy and Switzerland. “I’m very proud and very happy to be here in Beirut at the Ministry of Interior to finally get my Lebanese passport,” Infantino said in a video...
Costa Rican Authorities Investigate Killing Of A US Citizen In An Apparent Robbery
Costa Rican authorities said Monday they were investigating the killing of a U.S. citizen in an apparent robbery. Kurt Van Dyke, a 66-year-old Costa Rica resident and local hotel owner in Puerto Viejo on the country’s Caribbean coast, was killed Saturday, according to the Judicial Investigation Agency. His body showed signs of strangulation and stab wounds and was undergoing an autopsy, the statement said. Two men armed with at least one gun had threatened Van Dyke and a woman, stolen objects from the home and apparently a vehicle, authorities said. The woman escaped without serious injuries. Van Dyke was part...
China Grants UK And Canada Visa-Free Entry, Raising Total To 79 Countries
British and Canadian citizens can enter China without a visa starting Tuesday, bringing to 79 the number of countries granted visa-free access in a bid to boost tourism and business. China has expanded eligibility for the program significantly in the last two years. Visitors can stay for up to 30 days for business, tourism, exchange programs and to visit family and friends. Most Europeans qualify for visa-free entry, along with some from select countries in other regions including Latin America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Citizens of a few other countries, including the United States and Indonesia, can enter...
Australia Won’t Repatriate 34 Women And Children From Syria
The Australian government will not repatriate from Syria a group of 34 women and children with alleged ties to the Islamic State group, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday. The women and children from 11 families were supposed to fly from the Syrian capital Damascus to Australia but Syrian authorities on Monday turned them back to Roj camp in northeast Syria because of procedural problems, officials said. Only two groups of Australians have been repatriated with government help from Syrian camps since the fall of the Islamic State group in 2019. Other Australians have also returned without government assistance. Albanese...
A Writer Is Cleared By Thai Court After Malaysian Agency Withdraws Defamation Case
A defamation case by Malaysia’s telecoms regulator against an Australian resident in Thailand was formally withdrawn from a Thai court on Monday after mediation, the sued man and his lawyer said. The case has caused concern among free speech advocates because it was seen as a form of cross-border repression. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission, or MCMC, had already acknowledged in a statement earlier this month that it had reached a settlement agreement on Jan. 12, which would the drop criminal proceedings against Murray Hunter. That said it was also withdrawing a civil case in Malaysia against Hunter. Hunter...
Russian Woman Carries Ukraine Placard At Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony
Anastasia Kucherova, a Russian living in Milan, voiced her opposition to Russia’s war against Ukraine with a highly symbolic, if anonymous, act: Carrying the Ukraine team placard during the opening ceremony of the Milan Cortina Winter Games. Kucherova was swathed in a long, hooded silver puffer coat, her eyes covered with dark glasses — like all the other placard bearers for the 92 nations competing in the Olympics. The Ukraine sign was illuminated for the crowd to read. At first the country assignments were going to be random, but later the choreographer asked if the volunteers had preferences, and Kucherova...
State Secretary Rubio Threatens To Take Visitors Visas Away If They Undermine Or Promote Hatred Against America, He Declares, ‘No One Is Entitled To A Visa.’
Marco Rubio: I’ve said this repeatedly. I don’t know why it’s so hard for some to comprehend it. No one is entitled to a visa. “If you enter our country as a visitor and undertake activities against the national interests of the United States, we will take away your visa.” The United State secretary threatens Illegal Migrants
