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by Maria ANTONOVA and Gabrielle TETRAULT-FARBER Agence France Presse MOSCOW, United States (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday appeared to cosy up to US President-elect Donald Trump while asserting his authority as the key power broker in Syria. At his annual end-of-year press conference, the confident Kremlin strongman praised Trump for tapping into the public mood in the US to claim his surprise win in November. “He went to the end, though nobody believed […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin called Syria’s Bashar al-Assad Friday to congratulate him on completing the “liberation” of Aleppo, the Kremlin said. “Russian President Vladimir Putin phoned the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and congratulated him with the end of the operation of liberation of Aleppo from fighters,” it said in a statement. “This success was possible thanks to mutual efforts of all who came together in the fight with international terrorism in […]
BEIJING, China (Reuters) — China said on Friday (December 23) its government was paying attention to President-elect Donald Trump’s Twitter post where he called for an expansion of the United States’ nuclear capabilities. BEIJING, China (Reuters) — On Thursday (December 22) Trump tweeted that “The United States must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability until such time as the world comes to its senses regarding nukes,” but gave no further details. It was not […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said Friday that US President-elect Donald Trump accurately read the popular mood in the United States to win the election, although “nobody except us” believed in his success. The US president-elect “precisely felt the mood of the society and worked in that precise paradigm, he went to the end, though nobody believed that he would win except us,” Putin said while answering a state media journalist at […]
VALLETTA, Libya (AFP) — Malta’s Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said Friday on Twitter he had been alerted to a “potential hijack” of a Libyan plane reported to be headed for the Mediterranean island. “Informed of potential hijack situation of a #Libya internal flight diverted to #Malta. Security and emergency operations standing by -JM,” the premier said in a post from his official account. Maltese government sources told AFP there were 118 people on board the […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (Reuters) — In Taipei’s leafy Tienmu district, nearly half the flagpoles in front of the imposing pink building that houses most foreign embassies are bare, as Taiwan’s dwindling band of diplomatic friends jump ship to its giant neighbor. Another flag was taken down this week when tiny West African state Sao Tome and Principe severed ties with the self-ruled island. Taiwan had as many as 30 diplomatic allies in the mid-1990s, but now […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said there was “nothing unusual” about US President-elect Donald Trump’s call to boost America’s nuclear capability. “As concerns the new president-elect of the United States Mr Trump, there is nothing new here. During his election campaign he spoke about the necessity of strengthening the nuclear component of the United States, to strengthen the armed forces. There is nothing unusual here,” Putin said at his annual press […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — President Vladimir Putin said Friday the recapture of the devastated city of Aleppo by Syrian regime forces was a “very important” step towards stabilizing the war-torn country. “The liberation of Aleppo from radical elements is a very important part of the normalization in Syria, and I hope, for the region overall,” Putin told defense minister Sergei Shoigu in a meeting, Russian news agencies reported. The Syrian army said late Thursday that […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — At least 88 civilians have been killed in 24 hours of Turkish air strikes on an Islamic State group bastion in northern Syria, a monitoring group said Friday. A barrage of raids hit Al-Bab on Thursday, killing 72 civilians including 21 children, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Bombardment continued on Friday, leaving another 16 civilians dead, including three children. “Eighty-eight civilians have been killed in 24 hours,” Observatory […]
TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) — Tens of thousands of people flocked to the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Friday (December 23) to wish Japan’s Emperor Akihito a happy 83rd birthday. The Imperial Household Agency said more than 33,000 people gathered at the palace before noon, the biggest turnout in Emperor Akihito’s 28-year-long reign, as this year may be the last year they hold a mass celebration for him. “There are only few days left in […]
by Maher Al Mounes Agence France Presse ALEPPO, Syria (AFP) — Thousands of people in western Aleppo took to the streets Thursday, rejoicing in the Syrian regime’s operation to retake the eastern side of their city from rebels after a years-long battle. Celebratory gunfire began to erupt and crowds began to fill the streets as soon as the army announced the last rebels had left east Aleppo. The western side of the city had been […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China began daily civilian charter flights to Woody Island in the contested South China Sea Thursday, the official Xinhua news agency said, in a move likely to raise regional tensions. Beijing asserts sovereignty over almost all of the strategically vital South China Sea despite rival claims from Southeast Asian neighbours and has rapidly built reefs into artificial islands capable of hosting military planes. It landed its first passenger plane in Sansha […]
