December 8, 2022

Daily News Brief

*) Boluarte becomes Peru's first ever female president after Castillo's ouster Peruvian politician Dina Boluarte has been sworn in as interim president, hours after Pedro Castillo was removed in an impeachment trial and arrested. Boluarte, elevated from vice president, becomes Peru's first ever female president, following Castillo's attempt to dissolve the legislature by decree to avoid the impeachment vote. Boluarte said she was taking office "in accordance with the Constitution of Peru.” *) Putin warns of prolonged Russian military operation against Ukraine Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned that his country's military could be fighting against Ukraine for a long time. Putin said, "As for the long process of seeing results of the special military operation, of course, this is a lengthy process." Moscow had expected the fighting to last just days before Ukraine's surrender. *) China's Xi starts landmark visit to Saudi Arabia Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in Saudi Arabia on a visit, which China hailed as its biggest-ever diplomatic initiative in the Arab world. The meeting between the global economic powerhouse and Gulf energy giant comes as Saudi ties with Washington are strained by US criticism on some issues, including Riyadh's support for oil output curbs. Xi's trip includes direct talks with Saudi Arabia, a wider meeting with the six-nation Gulf Arab alliance and a summit with Arab leaders. *) Afghan Taliban carries out first public execution since takeover The Taliban administration has publicly executed a man accused of murder in Afghanistan’s western Farah province. This is the first officially confirmed public execution since the group took over the country last year. The man was accused of stabbing another man to death in 2017. The execution was carried out by the father of the victim, who shot the man three times, according to a statement by a Taliban spokesperson. And finally… *) Oldest DNA reveals life in Greenland two million years ago Scientists in Greenland have announced the discovery of DNA dating back two million years in sediment from the Ice Age, opening a new chapter in paleogenetics. Co-author of the study Mikkel Winther Pedersen, said the research is breaking the barrier of “what we thought we could reach in terms of genetic studies.” He said: “It was long thought that one million years was the boundary of DNA survival, but now we are twice as old as that.”