SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA (Reuters) — A major security operation was underway in Sydney on Saturday (December 31) with more than 2000 police patrolling harbor side locations following recent counter-terrorism raids. Australian counter-terror officers arrested a 40-year-old man at Sydney Airport on Thursday (29 December) and charged him with making online threats “relating to New Year’s Eve” festivities in Sydney The arrest follows police raids across the southern city of Melbourne a week ago, which authorities said foiled […]
International
Australia kicks off global New Year party defying terror threat
by Barry PARKER SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Global terror attacks have cast a pall over 2016 but Australia was Saturday set to defy the threats and ring in the New Year with bumper crowds gathering to watch a firework extravaganza on Sydney’s glittering harbor. 2016 has seen repeated bloodshed, most recently a deadly truck attack at a Berlin Christmas market, a similar incident on Bastille Day in France that killed 86, and atrocities in Turkey […]
Taiwan won’t cave to Beijing threats, says president
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan will not bend to pressure despite China returning to its “old ways” of intimidation, President Tsai Ing-wen said Saturday, following protests from Beijing over her call to US President-elect Donald Trump. China has stepped up military drills near Taiwan since the call earlier in December, in a move seen as putting on a show of strength as its ties with the self-ruled island and the United States deteriorate. The call […]
Putin refuses to expel US diplomats, Trump applauds
by Olivia HAMPTON with Max Delany in Moscow WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) –President-elect Donald Trump on Friday praised President Vladimir Putin for refraining from tit-for-tat expulsions of Americans in response to US punitive measures over alleged Russian interference in the November election. Putin’s decision came despite the foreign ministry asking him to send home 35 US diplomats after President Barack Obama had expelled the same number of Russian staff. Trump’s intervention — in a tweet […]
New Year’s Eve ball test successful
NEW YORK, United States (Reuters) — It was the final test run before the big New Year’s Eve countdown in Times Square. The organizers of New York City’s New Year’s Eve event stood atop One Times Square, counted down, flipped the switch, and launched the world famous Times Square crystal ball rise 130-feet (40 meters) into the air. Come New Year’s Eve, more than one million people will come to Times Square to watch the […]
5.5-magnitude quake strikes near Japan’s east coast: USGS
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A 5.5-magnitude earthquake hit near Japan’s east coast on Saturday, the US Geological Survey said. The moderate quake hit at a shallow depth of 11 kilometers (6.8 miles), 244 kilometers northeast of Tokyo, just after 5:00 am (2000 GMT). Japan sits at the junction of four tectonic plates and experiences a number of relatively violent quakes every year. But rigid building codes and strict enforcement mean even strong tremors often do […]
Ban Ki-moon bids farewell to United Nations
UNITED NATION, United States (AFP) — UN Secretary Ban Ki-moon paid an emotional farewell to the United Nations on Friday, wistfully describing his two-term stint at the helm of the global body as something of a fairy tale. “I feel a bit like Cinderella. Tomorrow at midnight, everything changes!” he joked to staff and colleagues as he wrapped up a decade leading the United Nations. Beginning Sunday, former Portuguese prime minister Antonio Guterres, 67, takes […]
Trump praises ‘very smart’ Putin for holding off on reprisals against US
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President-elect Donald Trump on Friday praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for not quickly hitting back at Washington for the punitive measures imposed over alleged interference in the November election. “Great move on delay (by V. Putin) – I always knew he was very smart!” Trump tweeted. Russia’s embassy in Washington quickly retweeted the comment, which Trump pinned so it would appear at the top of his feed for several […]
China’s currency plunges in 2016
CHINA (Reuters) — The currency falling nearly 7 percent against the dollar in 2016, its biggest annual fall since records began more than 20 years ago. Signs that all is not well in the world’s number two economy as it gears up a new wave of challenges in the year ahead. The spiraling yuan has forced China’s Central Bank to dip into its currency reserves, spending more than 1 trillion dollars this year just to […]
Syria truce holding despite isolated violence
by Layal Abou Rahal Agence France-Presse BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) – A fragile calm was holding across Syria on Friday after a truce brokered by Russia and Turkey came into effect, a potentially major breakthrough after nearly six years of conflict. There were reports of isolated violence, including clashes in central Hama province between government forces and jihadist factions, a monitor said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said there were casualties among regime forces in […]
Russia pledges reprisals for US hacking punishment
by Max DELANY with Susan STUMME in Washington Agence France-Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) – Russia on Friday eyed retaliatory measures against the US after President Barack Obama kicked out dozens of suspected intelligence agents and imposed sanctions in a furious dispute over alleged election interference. The barrage of punishment against Moscow over cyberattacks dragged ties between Russia and the United States — already at their worst since the Cold War — to a fresh low […]
At least three dead in Indian coal mine collapse
JHARKHAND, India (Reuters) — At least three men were killed and dozens trapped, after a pile of mine waste collapsed in a mine in eastern India run by state-run miner Coal India Limited, state police said on Friday (December 30). The collapse took place in Jharkhand state on Thursday (December 29) evening at the Lalmatia mines owned by Eastern Coalfields Limited (ECL), a subsidiary of the world’s largest miner. Several vehicles engaged in the mining […]
