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☆ These are the most expensive cities if you want to live in luxury, according a Swiss private bank
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-20 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Singapore is the most expensive city for living in luxury, per a report by the Julius Baer Group. Rent, house prices, school fees, taxes on cars, and living expenses are all high in the city-state. The Swiss private bank released its 2023 Global Wealth and Lifestyle Report on Tuesday. By the end of 2022, Singapore had an estimated 1,500 family offices – twice the number of the previous year. Here is Julius Baer's ranking of the 10 most expensive cities for "living well":

Persons: Julius Baer, —, Long, –, Julius Baer's Organizations: Julius Baer Group, Service, Privacy, Singapore Locations: Singapore, Shanghai, Hong Kong, London, New York, Swiss

☆ Nigeria boat capsize death toll rises to more than 100
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-14 | by ( Ahmed Kingimi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, June 14 (Reuters) - The death toll from an overloaded boat that capsized in a remote part of Nigeria's north central region has risen to more than 100, police and officials said on Wednesday, in one of the worst such disasters in recent years. The wooden boat was ferrying people to Kwara state across a river from neighbouring Niger state after a wedding ceremony when it capsized on Monday night. Kwara state police spokesperson Ajayi Okasanmi told Reuters on Wednesday that 103 people had been confirmed dead. It was not immediately clear how many people were in the boat, but some residents put the figure at more than 200. Overcrowding and poor maintenance are responsible for most boat accidents on Nigerian waterways.

Persons: Ajayi Okasanmi, Okasami, Alhaji Bologi, MacDonald Dzirutwe, Nick Macfie Organizations: Reuters, Thomson Locations: MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, Nigeria's, Kwara, Niger, Patigi

☆ Nigeria boat accident kills 50 people, several missing
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, June 13 (Reuters) - At least 50 people drowned and several others were missing after an overloaded boat capsized in Nigeria's north central region, residents and state officials said on Tuesday. The wooden boat was ferrying people across a river to Kwara state after a wedding ceremony in neighbouring Niger state when it capsized on Monday night, local residents said. It was not immediately clear how many people were in the boat, but Kwara state government in a statement said the people were from five villages and rescue efforts for possible survivors were still underway. The statement said the Kwara state governor commiserated with the people "on the devastating news of a boat mishap in which dozens of people were feared killed and many others still missing." A Kwara state police spokesperson could not be reached for comment.

Persons: commiserated, Ahmed Kingimi, MacDonald Dzirutwe, Bill Berkrot Organizations: Thomson Locations: MAIDUGURI, Nigeria, Nigeria's, Kwara, Niger

☆ Bombing of herders highlights deadly air attacks by Nigerian military
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +19 min

The letter said the Nigerian Air Force is committed to human rights and “further deliberations” on the issue, according to the report. “The absence of details raises the question of whether the air force carried out the air strike based on mere suspicion,” Human Rights Watch said. The U.S. State Department and the Pentagon had no immediate comment about the airstrike or the U.S. relationship with the Nigerian Air Force. Before now, neither the Nigerian government nor the military had provided any public explanation for what happened on Jan. 24. ACLED data show Nigerian Air Force strikes continued to claim the lives of noncombatants, inside and outside the northeast.

Persons: Ibrahim Muazu, “, ACLED, D.D, Pwajok, ”, Sara Jacobs, herdsmen, Oladayo Amao, Amao, “ miscreants, Muhammadu Buhari, Bola Tinubu, Jan, Muazu, Lamido, Nigeria’s, Sanusi, Buhari, Rand Paul, Cory Booker, Rex Tillerson, Lai Mohammed, Jacobs, Jim Risch, Chris Smith, Antony Blinken, Biden, Risch, brazenly “, ” Abubakar Bello Rukubi, ” “, Yemi Osinbajo, cc’d, Samuel Ortom, herder, ” Muazu, Humeyra Pamuk, Daphne Psaledakis, Idrees Ali, Jarrett Renshaw, David Lewis, Reade Levinson, Simon Newman, Catherine Tai Design, Eve Watling, Julie Marquis, Alexandra Zavis Organizations: herder, Reuters, Air Force, Nigerian Air Force, Human Rights Watch, Air, Rights Watch, Ministry of Defence, Nigerian Air, House Foreign Affairs, ” Reuters, ACLED, Planet Labs PBC, U.S . State Department, Pentagon, ”, Muazu, Congress, San Frontieres, Republican, Punch, UK, Nigeria –, Systems, U.S, Super, International, Development, Rights Initiative, Benue State Livestock Guards, Human Rights, Daily Trust, Nigeria’s Locations: Nigerian, Nasarawa, Akwanaja, United States, U.S, Nigeria, California, Kano, Rann, Cameroonian, Zamfara, “, Benue, ” Benue, London, Makurdi, Naka, Washington, Philadelphia

☆ At Least 42 Are Dead and Thousands Are Displaced After Flooding in Haiti
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Jesus Jiménez | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

At least 42 people were dead and thousands were displaced after a weekend of heavy rainfall and widespread flooding in Haiti, the country’s disaster response agency said on Monday. The heavy rain, which fell mostly on Saturday and Sunday, flooded more than 13,000 homes, displacing people across Haiti, according to the agency. As emergency workers rushed to provide food, drinking water and shelter for those who were affected, western portions of the Caribbean nation appeared to have suffered the brunt of the heavy rain. In western portions of Haiti, more than 5,500 homes had been affected by rain and flooding, leaving more than 2,500 people displaced, the agency said in an update on Sunday. In the central region, it said that the agriculture sector had been affected by the rains as well.

Locations: Haiti, Caribbean

☆ Russian air strikes repelled over Kyiv, but hit regional airfield
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

KYIV, June 4 (Reuters) - Russia launched a fresh wave of air strikes against Ukraine early on Sunday, striking an airfield in a central region but failing to hit the capital Kyiv, Ukrainian authorities said. Air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat told local television that four of six cruise missiles had been shot down by air defences but that two had struck an "operational airfield" near the central city of Kropyvnytskyi. He added that two of the five Iranian-made drones launched by Russia had struck infrastructure in the northern Sumy region. Kyiv officials said air defences had downed all projectiles that had been aimed at the capital before they reached the city. Separately, a 2-year-old girl was killed and 22 people were wounded in an earlier Russian missile strike on Sunday near the central Ukrainian city of Dnipro, the regional governor said.

Persons: Yuriy Ihnat, Serhiy Popko, Gleb Garanich, Dan Peleschuk, Lidia Kelly, Daniel Wallis, William Mallard, Nick Macfie Organizations: Ukraine, Air, Telegram, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Russia, Kyiv, Kropyvnytskyi, Sumy, Russian, Ukrainian, Dnipro, Ukraine, Melbourne

☆ We're a millennial couple in Singapore, where real-estate prices are skyrocketing. House hunting was surprisingly easy.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-02 | by ( Amanda Goh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

For about a year, he lived with me and my family in our five-room Housing Development Board flat in Holland Village. Housing Development Board flats are public housing, and they're home to about 80% of the country's resident population. The seller's agent told us the Housing Development Board valuation was SG$430,000, and we ended up making an offer of SG$445,000, which was accepted. After the down payment, most people either take a Housing Development Board loan or a bank loan to finance their homes. The Housing Development Board interest rate is fairly stable and has stayed at 2.6% a year for a few years now, though the Housing Development Board acknowledges that it may be adjusted over the year.

Persons: Vanessa Tai, —, They're, hadn't, It's, we're, it's, We're Organizations: Service, Board, Housing, Google, Central Provident Fund Locations: Europe, Singapore, Croatia, Holland Village, Holland, Sengkang, we're

☆ Explainer: What to expect from Nigeria's new president Bola Tinubu
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-29 | by ( Macdonald Dzirutwe | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LAGOS, May 29 (Reuters) - Nigeria's new president Bola Tinubu faces a litany of problems, including widespread violence, double-digit inflation and industrial-scale oil theft. Tinubu says he will build on Buhari's public infrastructure programme to create jobs and remove legal limits on government spending. Tinubu says he will reduce corporate tax to attract investment and plug tax loopholes to boost revenue. Tinubu says he will set up a surveillance unit to protect the country's pipelines and attract new investors with tax incentives. Tinubu wants to recruit more soldiers and police officers, while paying and equipping them better.

CNN —A wave of Russian drone attacks on the Ukrainian capital left one person dead and sparked fires around the city, officials in Kyiv said early Sunday. “The enemy launched another overnight attack on military facilities and critical infrastructure in the country’s central regions, specifically Kyiv Oblast. A 41-year-old man died in the city’s Solomyanskyi district following the attacks, while falling drone debris at a gas station injured a 35-year-old woman, Mayor Klitshko said. Falling drone debris also sparked fires in buildings across the capital, the mayor said on Telegram. In the Pecherskyi district, the historical center of Kyiv, falling drone debris also sparked a fire on the roof of a nine-story building, Klitschko said.

[1/4] Military officers assist a person on a dinghy after heavy rains hit Italy's Emilia Romagna region, in Faenza, Italy, May 18. "Climate change is here and we are living the consequences. Last July, an ice avalanche in the Italian Alps killed 11 people following a heatwave that exacerbated the worst drought that Italy has suffered for at least 70 years. "A climate change adaptation policy that goes beyond how to handle emergencies and considers the effects of ordinary planning is increasingly urgent," it said in a statement. Italy's national civil protection agency estimates that 94% of the country's municipalities are prone to natural disasters - making it inconceivable to protect everyone from the dangers of climate change.

☆ Air raid alerts extended throughout Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 18 (Reuters) - Air raid alerts were declared throughout Ukraine early on Friday, with some areas reporting explosions. Officials said anti-aircraft units were in action in several regions. Far western regions were initially left out of the warnings but officials later extended them to the entire country. The military said central regions were at risk from drone attacks. Officials in Kyiv said anti-aircraft units were in operation.

☆ Air raid alerts across Ukraine, military warns of strikes in Kyiv, other regions
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

May 18 (Reuters) - Air raid alerts were declared throughout the territory of Ukraine early on Thursday and the military warned of possible Russian missile strikes in a wide arc extending from Kyiv to central regions and the south. An hour after the warnings were issued, the Ukrainian Armed Forces Telegram channel told residents of the capital to remain in shelters. Warnings were issued for a range of other regions, including Zhytomyr west of the capital and Kirovohrad, Cherkassy and Dnipropetrovsk in central Ukraine. The warnings also extended north of Kyiv and to the south and west to Vinnystia, Khmelnitskyi and Chernivtsi regions. Other Telegram channels warned of possible strikes in the central region of Poltava and further south in Mykolaiv region.

☆ Uganda parliament passes harsh anti-LGBTQ bill mostly unchanged
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The legislation now heads back to President Yoweri Museveni, who can sign it, veto it or return it again to parliament. It was not immediately clear if the new bill satisfied his requests, and his office was not available for comment. Proponents of the bill say broad legislation is needed to counter what they allege, without evidence, are efforts by LGBTQ Ugandans to recruit children into homosexuality. Western governments suspended aid, imposed visa restrictions and curtailed security cooperation in response to another anti-LGBTQ law Museveni signed in 2014. The U.S. government said last week that it was assessing the implications of the looming law for activities in Uganda under its flagship HIV/AIDS programme.

☆ Black hole image captures jet of material launching into space
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

But a black hole can also send powerful jets of material blasting across space and beyond its home galaxy. Previous observations have shown the jet and black hole separately, including the first direct image of a black hole, released in 2019. Astronomers believe that more material is falling toward the black hole in the new image, which is why the ring looks bigger. Studying black holesRecently, astronomers also used machine learning to release a cleaner, sharper version of the original M87 black hole image from 2019. The central region is darker and larger, surrounded by a bright ring as hot gas falls into the black hole.

☆ Uganda's president sends anti-LGBTQ bill back to parliament for 'strengthening'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni speaks during a Reuters interview at his farm in Kisozi settlement of Gomba district, in the Central Region of Uganda, January 16, 2022. REUTERS/Abubaker LubowaKAMPALA, April 20 (Reuters) - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni supports a bill containing some of the world's harshest anti-LGBTQ legislation but will send it back to parliament for "strengthening", the ruling party's chief whip said. A group of lawmakers from Museveni's National Resistance Movement (NRM) discussed the bill with the president and agreed in principle to make it law, chief whip Denis Hamson Obua said. Obua said Museveni would hold a meeting on Tuesday with parliament's legal and parliamentary affairs committee to draft the amendments. Western governments suspended aid, imposed visa restrictions and curtailed security cooperation in response to the law Museveni signed in 2014.

☆ First photo of a black hole resembles 'skinny' doughnut
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —The first photo ever taken of a black hole looks a little sharper now. The central region is darker and larger, surrounded by a bright ring as hot gas falls into the black hole in the new image. The Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration, called EHT, is a global network of telescopes that captured the first photograph of a black hole. Computers using PRIMO analyzed more than 30,000 high-resolution simulated images of black holes to pick out common structural details. But if heated materials in the form of plasma surround the black hole and emit light, the event horizon could be visible.

☆ Syrian says air defenses confront Israeli attack over Homs area
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

AMMAN, April 2(Reuters) - Israel targeted outposts in Syria's Homs province in a raid early on Sunday, the Syrian defence ministry said, while Western intelligence sources said the strikes hit a series of air bases in the central region of the country where Iranian personnel are based. The strikes pointed to intensifying Israeli efforts to counter Tehran's foothold in the country, analysts said. Two Western intelligence sources said the rocket strikes targeted the T4 air base located west of the ancient city of Palmyra, and al Dabaa airport near al Qusayr city near the Lebanese border where Iranian backed Hezbollah are entrenched. Iranian military personnel alongside fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah are stationed at both airports and there is a strong presence of pro-Iranian militias in that area of Homs province, the sources said. A Syrian military source said on state media that the strikes caused some material damage with five military personnel injured.

☆ Syria says Israel hits Homs outposts, sources say air bases bombed
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-01 | by ( Suleiman Al-Khalidi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Iranian military personnel alongside fighters from Lebanon's Hezbollah are stationed at both airports and there is a strong presence of pro-Iranian militias in that area of Homs province, the sources said. Syria denies Western and Israeli allegations that Iran, whose top military officials frequently visit Syria, has an extensive military presence in the country. A Syrian military source said on state media that the strikes caused some material damage with five military personnel injured. Israel has intensified strikes in the last year on Syrian airports and air bases to disrupt what it says is Iran's use of aerial supply lines to deliver arms to militias. read moreIran declined to comment on the Western and Israeli accusations.

☆ This $23.5 Million Alaska Property Is Sitting on an Actual Gold Mine
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-25 | by ( Libertina Brandt | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

In the east central region of Alaska, a property in the Yukon—Charley Rivers National Preserve is hitting the market for $23.5 million. The property, which is called Woodchopper Gold Claim, is being sold by Alaska resident and geologist Lynn Vogler. It sits along the Woodchopper Creek which flows into the Yukon River and has been the site of gold exploration for over 100 years, according to Mr. Vogler. Around 117,000 documented troy ounces of gold have been extracted along the creek, he said.

☆ Iraqi ambush of Americans made a mockery of 'Mission Accomplished'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Michael Georgy | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +9 min

[1/5] FILE PHOTO: A U.S. soldier walks past Iraqi detainees standing behind a wired fence, at Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad, Iraq May 17, 2004. Arriving in the city an hour or so after the ambush on March 31, 2004, I was confronted by a crowd kicking the head of an incinerated body. I was taking notes, trying to make sense of the furore, when a boy, who was probably aged about nine, approached. HOTSPOTIn the two decades of turmoil since the invasion, Falluja repeatedly emerged as a hotspot. I saw an Iraqi douse one of the corpses with petrol, sending flames soaring into the air.

☆ Explainer: Nigeria election: what to expect from president-elect Bola Tinubu
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-01 | by ( Macdonald Dzirutwe | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

LAGOS, March 1 (Reuters) - Nigeria's president-elect Bola Tinubu has promised to tackle a litany of problems, including escalating violence, double-digit inflation and industrial-scale oil theft. Tinubu says he will build on Buhari's public infrastructure programme to create jobs and remove legal limits on government spending. Tinubu says he will set up a surveillance unit to protect the country's pipelines and attract new investors with tax incentives. Africa's top producer of crude oil depends on imported refined fuels, something Tinubu wants to end by increasing domestic refining through joint ventures with private investors. Tinubu wants to recruit more soldiers and police officers, while paying and equipping them better.

☆ Ukraine's Zelenskiy: Russia hit by "extraordinarily significant" losses in east
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 19 (Reuters) - Ukraine's military is inflicting "extraordinarily significant" losses on Russian forces near the town of Vuhledar in the eastern Donbas region, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday. We are breaking down the invaders and inflicting extraordinarily significant losses on Russia," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. Zelenskiy outlined the state of defense in other sectors after what he described as an "extended" meeting of the military command. "Of course, military issues and intelligence details are not something you can share with everyone," Zelenskiy said. Reporting by Ron Popeski and Nick Starkov; editing by Diane Craft and Richard ChangOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ 'The grass does not grow': In Chile's far south, the worst drought in 50 years
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] A view of parched earth as a wetland is drying up, in Punta Arenas, Chile February 2, 2023. In the far south city of Punta Arenas, that has led to a water emergency declared last year. "In 2022 Punta Arenas had its driest year in 52 years," said Nicolas Butorovic, a climatologist from the regional University of Magallanes. "The wind picks up and dries everything and the grass does not grow, that is the drama we're facing," said Hector Garay, a livestock farmer in the region. "If there is no irrigation water, water from rain, the grass does not grow.

☆ Factbox: Nigeria election 2023: what you need to know and what's at stake
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Here is what you need to know about the election. Tinubu and Atiku have significant powerbases across Nigeria, while Obi is banking on frustration over the economy and insecurity to turn voters against the two major parties. Obi, who left the PDP last year and was Atiku's running mate in 2019, casts himself as a reformist willing to overhaul Nigeria's political system. But on policy, there is little separating the main candidates. Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by James Macharia Chege, Gareth Jones and Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/4] A man clears away the snow from an alley as it snows on a cold winter day in Seoul, South Korea, January 26, 2023. REUTERS/Kim Hong-JiSEOUL, Jan 26 (Reuters) - South Korea plans to double energy vouchers and a discount of gas prices for underprivileged families to cope with spiralling heating bills amid a prolonged cold wave, officials said on Thursday. Many South Korean households began to feel the impact in recent weeks after turning up the heat amid a cold spell, with monthly gas bills up 34% last month from a year ago, according to Statistics Korea. "There is an inevitable aspect of realising energy prices under these difficult external circumstances," he told a briefing. Many South Koreans expressed concerns over additional hikes in energy bills as freezing winter weather continued.

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