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Buenos Aires (Argentine) (AFP) – Workers, students, and trade unionists participate in a demonstration in Buenos Aires against labor reforms. The contested reforms would make it easier to hire and fire workers in a country where job security is already hard to come by. It would also reduce severance pay, limit the right to strike, increase work hours and restrict holiday provisions. The measure was approved by the senate last week and will now come before the chamber of deputies for consideration. IMAGES

Oslo (AFP) – European Council president Antonio Costa says he wants the European Union membership accession process for Ukraine to begin “as soon as possible.” During a press conference with Norwegian prime minister Jonas Gahr Store, Costa says he wants to “formally open the negotiations” and “move forward on this enlargement process”.

Los Angeles (United States) (AFP) – Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh who won an Oscar for best actress for her role in ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ is honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. “The path from Malaysia to here wasn’t a straight line… but I was fortunate to be part of stories that crossed borders and languages,” says Yeoh.

New Delhi (AFP) – Sam Altman, head of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, tells a global artificial intelligence conference that the world “urgently” needs to regulate the fast-evolving technology. An organisation similar to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) could be set up to coordinate these efforts, he says.

London (AFP) – Britain’s disgraced royal Andrew, the scandal-hit brother of King Charles III, has been arrested on suspicion of misconduct during his time as a UK trade envoy, according to police. The unprecedented arrest of a royal family member comes as UK investigations into allegations emerging from the Jeffrey Epstein files gather pace, including new revelations that appeared to show Andrew sent Epstein potentially confidential documents.

New Delhi (AFP) – Tech bro rivalry is real — or at least it is for Sam Altman and Dario Amodei, the CEOs of two leading US artificial intelligence startups, OpenAI and Anthropic. During a group photo at a global AI summit in New Delhi, the two former colleagues, standing to the right of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the centre of the picture, awkwardly refuse to hold hands.

Lima (AFP) – Peru’s Congress elects Jose Maria Balcazar as new interim president, the eighth in a decade, following the removal of interim leader Jose Jeri over clandestine meetings with a Chinese businessman and the controversial hiring of women, in a context of chronic political instability. IMAGES

Chalonnes-sur-Loire (France) (AFP) – A search is underway after a man went missing when his canoe capsized on the river Loire in Chalonnes-sur-Loire, France. Police say there is little hope of finding him in the cold water and strong currents. The country’s western regions are flooded after its 35th consecutive day of rain – the longest streak since records began in 1959. Four departments are under red alerts for flooding, with the situation expected to get worse as Storm Pedro hits western Europe.

Kinshasa (AFP) – Congolese rumba has long been a source of national pride, with the UNESCO-listed musical genre keeping the country dancing for generations. But now, as younger Congolese listen more to Afropop and RnB, many fear its future is under threat.

Deir el-Balah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Palestinian artist Yazeed Abu Jarad sculpts the words ‘Welcome Ramadan’ with sand on the beach in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip a day ahead of the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, for the majority of faithful around the world.

At sea (AFP) – A video released on X by US Southern Command shows US strikes against alleged drug-smuggling boats. The strikes late on February 16 killed “four on the first vessel in the Eastern Pacific, four on the second vessel in the Eastern Pacific, and three on the third vessel in the Caribbean. No US military forces were harmed,” US Southern Command said in a post on X.