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by Andrew Beatty and Jitendra Joshi Agence France-Presse DAVOS, Switzerland (AFP) – The world’s political and business elite headed Thursday into a compelling encounter with President Donald Trump as the United States bids to carve out a competitive edge in trade, taxes and currency rates. A day after appearing to cast aside decades of US support for a strong currency, Trump’s Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said he was relaxed about the dollar’s short-term value, doing little to […]
by Jung Ha-Won Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) – A dozen North Korean female ice hockey players entered the South Thursday to form a unified team — the Koreas’ first for nearly three decades — at next month’s Winter Olympics. The Pyeongchang Winter Games have triggered an apparent rapprochement on the divided peninsula, where tensions have been high over the nuclear-armed North’s weapons ambitions. But the unified team has provoked controversy in the South, with accusations […]
by Jenny Vaughan Agence France-Presse HUE, Vietnam (AFP) – By day Nguyen Thi Hoa sold conical hats on the streets of Hue in southern Vietnam, at night she funneled secrets to Communist army handlers who were poised to launch an audacious assault on the city that would reshape the Vietnam War. Hoa was part of the Perfume River squad, a top secret female combat unit formed in 1967 and bound by the communist propaganda slogan: “When the […]
by Ammar Karim Agence France-Presse BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — Their names spread terror across the Islamic State group’s cross-border “caliphate,” but senior jihadists now languish in Iraqi prisons, subjects of mockery for the populace they ruled. Once boasting nicknames like the Black Box and the Butcher of Mosul, the defeated IS commanders now draw vitriol on social media while news outlets have published selfies taken by Iraqi soldiers of them being captured or marched handcuffed […]
KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) – The UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday reported a surge in summary “executions” in the country, notably in the southern Kasai region. In 2017, “state agents” carried out 1,176 extra-judicial killings, “including at least 89 women and 213 children,” the United Nations Mission in Congo (MONUSCO) said in an annual report on human rights violations in the DRC. Such killings have tripled over the past two years, […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – Trailblazing US Senator Tammy Duckworth made history multiple times as warrior and politician, including being the first female amputee elected to Congress and is now set to become the first senator to give birth while in office. Only nine other women in US history have given birth while serving in Congress. All of them were members of the House of Representatives. “Well, it’s about damn time” in the Senate, Duckworth, a […]
ASUNCION, Paraguay (AFP) — Authorities in Paraguay’s capital Asuncion on Wednesday declared a state of emergency for a month after the Paraguay River burst its banks, leaving at least 20,000 people homeless. The unseasonal high waters have washed over many poor neighborhoods built along the banks. About a half million people are in the capital, and 2.2 million in its metro area. The South American country has seven million people in total. The capital city’s […]
PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AFP) – The Czech Republic emerged from four decades behind the Iron Curtain to become a member of the European Union and one of Europe’s tourist hotspots. Here are five things to know about the central European country of 10.6 million people that kicks off a second-round presidential election run-off on Friday. Prague, an architectural gem Its capital is a popular tourist magnet, boasting a picturesque historic center that entered the UNESCO heritage […]
by Eugenia Logiuratoo Agence France-Presse PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil (AFP) — A Brazilian appeals court Wednesday upheld ex-president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s conviction for corruption, dealing a body blow to his hopes of running for re-election this year. The three-judge panel sitting in the southern city of Porto Alegre unanimously ruled that his original 9.5-year jail sentence will be extended to more than 12 years. Thousands of Lula supporters rallied in Sao Paolo to protest […]
by Clare Byrne Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) m– President Emmanuel Macron has “completely changed” France’s image, telecoms billionaire Xavier Niel said Wednesday, crediting the youthful, pro-business politician with attracting an influx of tech talent. “He has given France a pro-startup, pro-entrepreneur image abroad that we did not really have before,” said Niel, who bankrolled a giant startup incubator on the banks of the Seine river in Paris that opened a month after Macron’s election […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The World Bank’s chief economist resigned on Wednesday amid a scandal that erupted when he raised questions about how the institution was ranking countries — especially Chile — in a key report. World Bank President Jim Kim announced that Paul Romer was stepping down immediately from the post he had held since October 2016, but did not specify the reason for his exit. In his only reference to the recent […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump said Wednesday he would “love” to be questioned under oath by Russia collusion prosecutor Robert Mueller, saying it could happen in the coming weeks. Trump confirmed that his lawyers are in discussion with Mueller, who is leading the investigation into collusion between the US president’s election campaign and Russia in the 2016 election, and also into allegations that Trump tried to obstruct his probe. “I would love […]
