International

Obama warns of democratic test, ‘we rise or fall as one’

CHICAGO, United States (AFP) — President Barack Obama warned Tuesday that the United States faces a stern test of its democracy, in a speech to the nation that was both a fond goodbye and a call to arms. Capping his eight years in office, Obama returned to his adoptive hometown of Chicago to recast his “yes we can” campaign credo as “yes we did.” He also called on supporters to pick up the torch and forge […]

Breaking news: Obama now making his farewell speech in Chicago, assures peaceful transfer of power

(Eagle News) — “You made me a better president and you made me a better man.” This was the statement of outgoing US President Barack Obama as he started his farewell speech in Chicago The outgoing President stressed the power of faith and the power of democracy, no matter how contentious it is in America. In his speech, Obama assured the “peaceful transfer of power” to the new US President elect Donald Trump, as he […]

Blasts in three Afghan cities kill around 50, wound 100

by Usman SHARIFI Agence France Presse KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — Bombings across three Afghan cities including Kabul killed around 50 people and wounded 100 others Tuesday, in a day of carnage as Taliban insurgents escalate a deadly winter campaign of violence. At least 11 people died when explosives hidden in a sofa detonated inside the governor’s compound in southern Kandahar during a visit by the UAE ambassador to Afghanistan, who escaped the attack with injuries. […]

US Marines send F-35 stealth fighter squadron to Japan

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Marine Corps said Tuesday it has sent a squadron of F-35B fighter jets to Japan, marking the first operational overseas deployment for the controversial aircraft that is under scrutiny from President-elect Donald Trump. The deployment of the 10 planes to Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni on Honshu Island marks a major milestone for the F-35, which has been bedeviled by technical glitches and soaring cost overruns. With a […]

US would ‘not necessarily’ shoot down NKorean missile: Pentagon

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US military would not necessarily shoot down a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile, should the country’s leader try to test one, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said Tuesday. North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un said in a New Year’s speech that the country was “in the final stages of test-launching the intercontinental ballistic missile.” Carter, whose two-year run as Pentagon chief will come to an end when President Barack Obama leaves […]

US jury sentences Charleston church shooter to death

by Jason Ryan Agence France Presse CHARLESTON, United States (AFP) — A US jury on Tuesday sentenced Dylann Roof, the self-described white supremacist who gunned down nine black worshippers in a South Carolina church, to death over the June 2015 massacre. Roof, 22, was convicted last month of 33 federal charges — including hate crimes resulting in death — in connection with the carnage at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston. […]

Europe’s deep freeze claims new victims

WARSAW, Poland (AFP) – Sub-freezing temperatures across swathes of Europe have claimed almost 60 victims in recent days — notably in Poland, Romania and the Balkans — with migrants and the homeless among the most vulnerable, officials said on Tuesday. Six people died in Poland and seven more in the Balkans over a 24-hour period as temperatures plunged across Europe, while Romania announced six deaths in recent days. Authorities in Warsaw said the toll of […]

Obama says goodbye in last presidential speech

by Andrew BEATTY Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – Barack Obama closes the book on his presidency Tuesday, with a farewell speech in Chicago that will try to lift supporters shaken by Donald Trump’s shock election. Obama’s last trip on Air Force One will be a pilgrimage to his adoptive hometown, where he will address a sell-out crowd not far from where he delivered his victory speech eight years ago. “For Michelle and me, […]

Kremlin deplores US blacklist additions

by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber Agence France-Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) – Russia on Tuesday criticised Washington’s blacklisting of a high-ranking official and the suspects in the murder of ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko as a move by the outgoing administration to further sour ties. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the US decision to blacklist Investigative Committee chief Alexander Bastrykin and Litvinenko’s alleged assassins, lawmaker Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitri Kovtun, represented “further steps in the artificially created degradation of […]

Obama’s says goodbye in last presidential speech

by Andrew BEATTY Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Barack Obama closes the book on his presidency Tuesday, with a farewell speech in Chicago that will try to lift supporters felled by Donald Trump’s shock victory. Obama’s last trip on Air Force One will be a pilgrimage to his adoptive hometown, where he will address a sell-out crowd not far from where he accepted the presidency eight years ago. Diehard fans — many […]

Thousands attend Iran ex-president Rafsanjani funeral: TV

TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Tens of thousands of mourners led by Iran’s supreme leader gathered at Tehran University early on Tuesday for the funeral of former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani. State television showed people pouring on to the streets around the campus where Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will lead the eulogies for Rafsanjani despite their “differences”. The heavyweight politician, who died on Sunday at the age of 82, will be buried inside the crypt of Ayatollah Ruhollah […]