International

Haiti set to inaugurate new president

by Amelie BARON Agence France Presse PORT AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) — President-elect Jovenel Moise will be inaugurated Tuesday after having survived Haiti’s year-and-a-half electoral crisis, assuming power as political tensions continue to simmer. The 48-year-old Haitian banana exporter who has never held political office was the hand-picked candidate of former president Michel Martelly to represent the center-right Tet Kale Party (PHTK). More than 2,000 people have been invited to watch Moise become the 58th head […]

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IS ‘besieged’ in last bastion in Syria’s Aleppo province

by Layal Abou Rahal Agence France Presse BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — The Islamic State group is “completely besieged” in its last major stronghold in Syria’s Aleppo province, a monitor said Monday, as pro-regime forces pressure the jihadists on several fronts. IS fighters were cut off in Al-Bab after forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad’s government severed a road into the northern town, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. “Al-Bab is now completely besieged by […]

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Syria regime hanged 13,000 in notorious prison: Amnesty

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — As many as 13,000 people were hanged in five years at a notorious Syrian government prison near Damascus, Amnesty International said Tuesday, accusing the regime of a “policy of extermination.” Titled “Human Slaughterhouse: Mass hanging and extermination at Saydnaya prison,” Amnesty’s damning report is based on interviews with 84 witnesses, including guards, detainees, and judges. It found that at least once a week between 2011 and 2015, groups of up to […]

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China welcomes Mattis’ emphasis on South China Sea diplomacy

BEIJING, China (Reuters) — China on Monday (February 6) welcomed U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’ suggestion that diplomacy should be the priority in the South China Sea, and that major U.S. military action was not being considered to contend with China’s assertive behaviour there. Mattis, speaking in Tokyo on Saturday (February 4), blamed China for “shredding the trust of nations in the region”, but also played down any need for U.S. military manoeuvres in the […]

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US, Japan conduct test of joint missile

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States and Japan have conducted the first interception of a ballistic missile target using a jointly built system, amid heightened tensions over North Korea’s missile program. The two nations have been working together since 2006 to develop a variant of the Standard Missile-3, a ship-launched missile that operates as part of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. Friday’s test off Kauai in Hawaii saw the Standard Missile-3 “Block […]

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Trump accuses media of ignoring terrorist attacks

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump accused the media Monday of disregarding attacks perpetrated by radical jihadists, in a provocative statement for which he provided no evidence. “ISIS is on a campaign of genocide, committing atrocities across the world. Radical Islamic terrorists are determined to strike our homeland,” the president said, using an acronym for the Islamic State group. Trump, who was speaking during a visit to US Central Command in Tampa, […]

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France’s Fillon apologises for expenses scandal but refuses to step aside

by Clare BYRNE Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) –French rightwing presidential candidate Francois Fillon on Monday apologised for hiring his wife as his parliamentary aide, admitting he made an “error” as he sought to draw a line under a damaging scandal. Fillon’s bid has been in turmoil since it emerged that his British-born spouse was paid handsome sums for a suspected fake job as a parliamentary assistant. Late Monday, the candidate himself corrected a […]

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US travel ban a ‘lawful exercise’ of Trump’s authority: Justice Dept

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US government on Monday defended President Donald Trump’s travel ban as a “lawful exercise” of his authority, and claimed that a federal court made a mistake in barring enforcement of the measure. “The executive order is a lawful exercise of the president’s authority over the entry of aliens into the United States and the admission of refugees,” read a brief filed by Justice Department lawyers to the Ninth Circuit […]

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UK speaker opposes a Trump address to parliament

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The Speaker of Britain’s House of Commons said Monday he was “strongly opposed” to allowing Donald Trump to address members of parliament during the US president’s state visit later this year. John Bercow said such a speech was “not an automatic right, it is an earned honour” — and one he would object to following Trump’s ban on refugees and travellers from seven mainly Muslim countries. “Before the imposition of […]

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With Trump travel ban still blocked, travelers head to US

  by Andrew Beatty Agence France Presse PALM BEACH, United States (AFP) — After a US appeals court refused to restore President Donald Trump’s controversial immigration order, travelers who had been banned from entering the country trickled in Sunday as the White House vowed to prevail in the high-stakes legal battle. The early-morning ruling from a federal appeals court was the latest chapter in a saga which began on January 27, when Trump issued a […]

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At least 50 killed in Afghanistan avalanche

  (Reuters) — Dozens of people in Afghanistan were killed after heavy snow and avalanches hit over the weekend (February 4-5). In the northern province of Badakhshan, as many as 19 people were killed and 17 injured due to avalanches, collapsed roofs and road accidents, said Naweed Frotan, a spokesman for the provincial governor. The government was working to reach at least 12 districts in Badakhshan that had been completely cut off, he said. In […]

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For Kurds in Syria, world novels finally speak their language

by Delil Souleiman Agence France Presse QAMISHLI, Syria (AFP) — Abdo Shehu sits in an office in Kurdish-majority Qamishli in northeast Syria, surrounded by copies of the first Western novel available in the city in his own language. The novel is “Snow” by French writer Maxence Fermine, the first fruits of a new project to translate international works of literature into a language that was effectively banned in Syria until recently. The 29-year-old is working […]

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