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by Maria Antonova Agence France Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Thursday laid to rest its envoy Andrei Karlov after a packed memorial ceremony in Moscow for the diplomat who was assassinated by an off-duty policeman in Ankara this week. Dozens of colleagues and relatives attended the ceremony for Karlov, the ambassador to Turkey whose death Moscow labelled an act of terror. Russian President Vladimir Putin laid red roses at the foot of Karlov’s […]
by Maria ANTONOVA MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called for the country to reinforce its military nuclear potential and praised the army’s performance in its Syria campaign. In a speech that recapped military activities in 2016,Putin said the army’s preparedness has “considerably increased” and called for continued improvement that would ensure it can “neutralize any military threat”. “We need to strengthen the military potential of strategic nuclear forces, especially with […]
BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Syria’s conflict has killed more than 310,000 people, uprooted over half the population and left much of the country in ruins since it erupted almost six years ago. Here are some key statistics: Huge death toll The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said last week it had recorded the deaths of 312,001 people since the conflict began with anti-government protests in March 2011. Those killed included 90,000 civilians, of which 16,000 […]
by Cécile Feulitarre Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — The fall of Aleppo marks the victory of an authoritarian alliance stretching from Tehran to Moscow, analysts say — and the biggest win yet for President Bashar al-Assad since civil war erupted in 2011. His regime’s total control over east Aleppo, declared Thursday, was obtained with pitiless brute force that has reduced much of the country’s former economic heart to rubble, in a war that […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan said on Thursday it has paid millions of dollars in UNESCO annual funding dues after holding back the payment over a World War II-era history row. UNESCO, the UN cultural and scientific body, last year agreed to China’s request to include documents in its Memory of the World register recording atrocities by Japanese troops after the fall of the Chinese city of Nanjing 1937. Japan — one of UNESCO’s biggest contributors […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s cabinet on Thursday approved Japan’s biggest annual defense budget in the face of North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats and a territorial row with China. The Cabinet approved 5.13 trillion yen ($43.6 billion) in defense spending for the fiscal year starting in April, up 1.4 percent from the initial budget for the current fiscal year. It marks the fifth straight annual increase and reflects the hawkish Abe’s […]
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — Children are being killed and wounded as well as witnessing horrific violence as Iraqi forces battle the Islamic State group in heavily populated Mosul, Amnesty International said on Thursday. Iraqi forces launched a massive operation to retake the country’s last IS-held city more than two months ago, and have pushed the jihadists out of several neighborhoods on Mosul’s eastern side. But the battle to retake the city — where a million […]
GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala (AFP) — Taiwan’s president, Tsai Ing-wen, is to visit Guatemala next month amid US-China tensions spurred by US president-elect Donald’s Trump speaking by telephone with the Asian leader and threating to snub Beijing’s “One China” policy. Guatemala’s foreign ministry confirmed the visit, to take place January 11-12, just a week before Trump takes office on January 20. The Central American country is among just 21 nations in the world that defy China’s […]
Reuters — North Korea’s state-run television KRT on Wednesday (December 21) released still photographs of its leader Kim Jong Un watching a multiple rocket launcher drill and a night time combat flight drill. KRT said Kim ordered soldiers to conduct training under the simulated conditions of an actual war. KRT did not specify a date or a location of the drills. North Korea’s former deputy ambassador to Britain said on Monday (December 19) he defected […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — A Russian plane carrying the body of the ambassador assassinated in Turkey landed on Tuesday in Moscow, met by the top Russian and Turkish diplomats. Andrei Karlov’s coffin and his widow traveled back to Russia after the veteran diplomat was shot dead by a 22-year-old Turkish policeman at an art exhibit in Ankara on Monday in what Moscow called an “act of terror”. TV footage from the Vnukovo airport showed Karlov’s […]
BEIJING, China (Reuters) — Heavy haze enveloping many parts of north China is seriously disrupting people’s daily life. In Beijing, Tuesday marks the fifth day of a red alert warning against air pollution. As of 06:30, a total of 169 flights had been canceled due to low visibility of less than 300 meters. The visibility is expected to rise to one kilometer after 10:00. The government has increased its public transport capacities and implemented the […]
QUITO, Ecuador (AFP) — A 5.7-magnitude earthquake followed by 37 aftershocks rattled Ecuador’s Pacific coast before dawn Monday, causing three deaths and heavy damage to hotels and homes in resort towns, officials said. The northwestern province of Esmeraldas — hit hard by a devastating temblor in April — bore the brunt of the new quake, too. Three people died and 47 were injured as a result of the quake, according to disaster management agency SGR. At […]
