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HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong unveiled a proposed law Wednesday to punish anyone who disrespects the Chinese national anthem with up to three years in jail, as Beijing ramps up pressure on the semi-autonomous city to fall into line. The bill, which will have its first reading in the city’s parliament on January 23, sets up a fresh battle between authorities and democracy activists who say the financial hub’s freedoms are being […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A Japanese court on Wednesday rejected a bid by former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn to end his detention over alleged financial misconduct, a day after he denied all accusations in a dramatic court appearance. Ghosn’s lawyers had appealed to the court to free the auto tycoon, claiming at a special hearing in a Tokyo court there were no grounds for his detention, which has now lasted more than 50 days. But […]
MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Suspicious packages were sent to more than a dozen foreign embassies and consulates in major Australian cities on Wednesday in a seemingly orchestrated but scattershot campaign. Emergency services raced to a string of diplomatic facilities which had received packages containing suspected hazardous material, all within the space of a few hours. There was no obvious pattern to countries targeted, with consulates of the United States, China, Italy, India, Japan and New […]
HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) — Vietnam has accused Facebook of violating a new cybersecurity law by refusing to scrub anti-government content from its site, the first reprimand since the controversial bill came into effect days ago. The law, which went live January 1 and has drawn criticism from the US, the EU and web freedom groups, requires internet companies to remove “toxic content” and hand over user data when requested by authorities. It also stipulates that […]
by Laurent THOMET Agence France-Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — Kim Jong Un’s train left Beijing on Wednesday after the North Korean leader visited his key ally on a trip seen a strategy session ahead of his expected summit with Donald Trump. Kim arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for his fourth visit to Pyongyang’s sole major diplomatic friend, reportedly visiting a factory and meeting President Xi Jinping. The North Korean leader’s motorcade was spotted arriving at […]
by Laurent THOMET Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reportedly visited a pharmaceutical factory in China on Wednesday as he seeks economic support from his key ally along with diplomatic backing before his expected summit with Donald Trump. Kim arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for a fourth visit to his country’s sole major diplomatic friend, a trip seen as a strategy session ahead of his possible second meeting […]
by Saska CVETKOVSKA Agence France Presse SKOPJE, Macedonia (AFP) — Macedonian lawmakers gather from Wednesday to vote on changing their country’s name to settle a decades-long dispute with Greece and open the way to NATO and EU membership. But the switch to “the Republic of North Macedonia” is an uphill task involving four constitutional amendments and the support of two thirds of the 120-member parliament. The Social Democrat-led ruling coalition does not itself have those […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) – Australia gave its strongest hint yet on Wednesday that an 18-year-old Saudi woman in Bangkok would be granted humanitarian asylum, despite efforts by Riyadh and her family to force her return home. Rahaf Mohammed al-Qunun has documented her bid to flee her allegedly abusive family with minute-by-minute social media updates, intensifying the global spotlight on Saudi Arabia’s rights record. As public pressure heightened, an Australian minister appeared to go beyond Canberra’s […]
by Maria Isabel SANCHEZ / Alexander MARTINEZ Agence France Presse CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will begin his second mandate on Thursday plagued by accusations of illegitimacy and increasing international isolation in a country crippled by an economic crisis. The 56-year-old leader will be sworn in by the Supreme Court rather than the sidelined — and opposition controlled — parliament having been reelected in May in a poll boycotted by the majority […]
by Carole LANDRY Agence France Presse UNITED NATION, United States (AFP) — The year 2019 started off at the United Nations with Somalia brazenly kicking out the UN envoy, followed soon after by Guatemala ditching a UN-sponsored anti-corruption commission. After a tough year that saw the United States, the UN’s top financial backer, cut funding, pull out of the Human Rights Council and scrap UN-backed agreements, the United Nations is taking more hard hits. Some […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Top congressional Democrats on Tuesday accused President Donald Trump of holding Americans “hostage” by refusing to strike a deal to fund shuttered government agencies, and using fear mongering to justify his demand for his much-hyped border wall. “President Trump must stop holding the American people hostage, must stop manufacturing a crisis, and must re-open the government,” Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said in a curt rebuttal to Trump’s address to […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump repeated his demand Tuesday for $5.7 billion to fund a wall on the border with Mexico, describing a “growing crisis” of illegal immigration hurting millions of Americans. In his first ever televised Oval Office address, the president stopped short of calling for a much-touted state of emergency, instead appealing to the need to slash the cost of the illegal drug trade, which he put at $500 billion […]
