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MALE, Maldives (AFP) — Disgraced Maldives ex-president Abdulla Yameen was sentenced to five years in prison for money laundering on Thursday after a corruption probe into the former strongman’s rule of the luxury tourist destination. Yameen, who ran the Indian Ocean archipelago with an iron fist before his shock election loss in 2018, was accused of illegally transferring one million dollars from one of his bank accounts during an ongoing graft investigation. The 60-year-old was […]
by Sunghee Hwang Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea fired two “unidentified projectiles” on Thursday, Seoul said, as nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington remain deadlocked. The projectiles were fired eastwards from South Hamgyong province and came down in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said. They added that the launch, the latest in a series by Pyongyang, was […]
by Briseida MEMA Agence France Presse DURRËS, Albania (AFP) — The death toll from the most powerful earthquake to strike Albania in decades rose to 40 on Thursday after more bodies were pulled from the wreckage overnight in a tragedy that has wiped out whole families. The 6.4 magnitude earthquake rocked the Balkan state while people were sleeping just before 4:00 am (0300 GMT) on Tuesday, razing buildings and trapping victims beneath the debris […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China warned Thursday that it was ready to take “firm countermeasures” against the United States after President Donald Trump signed a law supporting pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong. “The nature of this is extremely abominable, and harbors absolutely sinister intentions,” the foreign ministry said in a statement, without specifying what measures Beijing might take. Trump signed the law on Wednesday after it received almost unanimous US congressional support. In a statement, […]
HONG KONG, China (AFP) –Hong Kong police on Thursday entered a ransacked university campus where authorities faced off for days with barricaded pro-democracy protesters, looking for petrol bombs and other dangerous materials left over from the occupation. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University became the epicenter of the territory’s increasingly violent protest movement when clashes broke out on November 17 between police and protesters armed with bows and arrows as well as Molotov cocktails. The standoff […]
ATHENS, Greece (AFP) — A strong 6.1-magnitude undersea earthquake shook the Greek island of Crete on Wednesday and was felt in other parts of the country, officials said. “It was a major earthquake, the whole island shook but fortunately so far no damage has been reported,” Crete regional governor Stavros Arnaoutakis told state TV ERT. The Athens Observatory said the quake struck at 9:23 am (0723 GMT) and had a depth of over 70 kilometers […]
KARBALA, Iraq (AFP) — Iraqi anti-government protesters blocked roads in the country’s south with burning tires on Wednesday, like schools and public offices stayed shut a day after deadly clashes with security forces. The country has been rocked by the biggest wave of protests since the 2003 US-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein, leaving more than 350 people dead and around 15,000 wounded since early October. Violence had erupted in the southern holy city of Karbala […]
by Sebastian Smith WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump signed a law Wednesday supporting pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, likely angering Beijing just as Washington was hoping to ease the long-running US-China trade war. Trump had seemed reluctant to sign the bill but with almost unanimous US congressional support for the measure, he had little political room to maneuver. In a statement, Trump spoke of “respect” for Chinese President Xi Jinping and said he […]
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AFP) — At least 18 people died after a bus skidded off a highway in Nepal and plunged into a deep gorge on Wednesday, authorities said, as rescuers scoured the steep terrain for survivors. The bus was traveling from the hilly Arghakhanchi district west of Kathmandu to the southern city of Butwal when it left the road and plummeted some 350 meters (1,150 feet) to the ground. “We have recovered dead bodies of […]
ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visited the United Arab Emirates Wednesday, as efforts to end the nearly five-year war in Yemen gain momentum. Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are close allies and key members of a military coalition backing the government in Yemen against the Iran-aligned Huthi rebels. But an Emirati drawdown in July followed by fighting in southern Yemen between UAE-backed separatists and the government — still […]
by Briseida MEMA THUMANE, Albania (AFP) — Emergency workers on Wednesday pulled dust-covered corpses from the ruins of an earthquake that has claimed 30 lives in Albania, as aftershocks hampered the second day of search efforts for survivors. The 6.4 magnitude earthquake that rattled the Balkan state early Tuesday morning was the most powerful and damaging in decades. In the hard-hit coastal city of Durres and the town of Thumane, apartments and hotels collapsed into […]
LA PAZ, Bolivia (AFP) — Some 20 former members of Bolivian ex-president Evo Morales’ government has holed up in Mexico’s embassy in La Paz, Bolivia’s foreign minister said Tuesday, including five wanted for arrest. Among them is Morales’ former top minister Juan Ramon Quintana, who the caretaker government has accused of sedition and terrorism. Morales, who fled to Mexico after being granted political asylum following his November 10 resignation, has been accused of the same […]
