International

Obama, Trudeau and Pena Nieto arrive for APEC summit

  (Reuters) — U.S. President Barack Obama, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto arrived on Friday (November 18) in Lima, Peru where leaders of Pacific rim nations scrambled to find new free-trade options as Donald Trump’s looming presidency sounded a possible death knell for the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit that brings together leaders whose economies represent 57 percent of global gross domestic product. Chinese President Xi […]

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30,000 displaced by violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine: UN

YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) – Up to 30,000 people have been displaced by violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, half of them over the course of last weekend when dozens of people died in clashes with the military, the UN said Friday. Troops have poured into a strip of land along the Bangladesh border, an area which is largely home to the stateless Muslim Rohingya minority, since coordinated attacks on police posts last month. The army this […]

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South Korea confirms highly pathogenic bird flu outbreaks, ramps up quarantine

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea has confirmed the country’s first outbreaks of the highly pathogenic H5N6 bird flu virus and has ramped up quarantine measures in response, agriculture ministry officials said on Friday. The outbreaks occurred at two poultry farms in the central and southern parts of the country after the ministry reported last week that the H5N6 strain of the virus had been found in the faeces of migratory birds. Cases of human infection […]

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Kerry arrives in Lima for APEC as U.S. undergoes transition

LIMA, Peru (Reuters) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Lima Thursday (November 17) for the 2016 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) at a time when the role of the United States on issues as far-ranging as trade and climate change remains unclear in the wake of Donald Trump’s electoral victory. Upon arriving in Lima, Kerry and delegations from the United States met with his peers from J apan, Fumio Kishida, and Philippines, Perfecto […]

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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrives to Argentina on state visit

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (Reuters) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived in Argentina on Thursday (November 17) for an official visit that will include meetings with Argentine President Mauricio Macri. Trudeau was greeted at the Ministro Pistarini International Airport in Buenos Aires, by Argentine Foreign Minister Susana Malcorra. The Canadian Prime Minister will meet with the Canadian Council for the Americas. He will then lay a wreath at Plaza San Martin. In the afternoon, Trudeau […]

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Seismologists warn of more quakes in New Zealand

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AFP) — Seismologists in New Zealand said Friday that this week’s 7.8 earthquake was one of the most complex ever recorded and warned there was a high likelihood of further powerful aftershocks. As a massive clean-up continued following the tremor that claimed two lives early Monday, scientists were coming to grips with the “astonishing” scale of the seismic seizure. The official GeoNet science agency said the land moved up to 11 metres […]

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Worried European leaders look to Obama for Trump clues

by Hui Min NEO and Jerome CARTILLIER BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — European leaders head to Berlin Friday to seek assurances from US President Barack Obama on the course that Donald Trump might take, given the populist mogul’s pledges to shake up the world order. Trump’s election upset has rattled European nerves, as he appeared to call into question a near 70-year-old security shield for US allies under NATO, and vowed to withdraw from hard-fought deals […]

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N. Korea slams South’s deal with ‘sworn enemy’ Japan

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea lashed out Friday at a new South Korea-Japan intelligence-sharing accord, accusing Seoul of a gross act of betrayal with the “sworn enemy” of the Korean people. The deal to share defence intelligence — largely driven by the growing threat of the North’s nuclear and missile programmes — was reached and provisionally signed in Tokyo on Monday. It was a controversial move in South Korea, where the legacy of […]

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Japan PM says ‘great confidence’ in Trump as leader

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday said his meeting with Donald Trump — the first by a foreign leader — convinced him the US president-elect was someone “in whom I can have great confidence”. “We were able to have a very candid talk over a substantial amount of time. We held it in a very warm atmosphere,” Abe told reporters after their meeting at the billionaire’s Manhattan skyscraper in New […]

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Russia launches missile strikes in Syria: ministry

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia said Thursday it had bombed jihadist groups in Syria using cruise missiles launched by strategic bombers deployed from Russian territory. The defence ministry said its bombers on Thursday “launched cruise missiles against targets of the Islamic State terrorist group and Jabhat al-Nusra”, referring to Al-Qaeda’s former Syrian affiliate, now known as Fateh al-Sham Front. The cruise missiles were launched from above the Mediterranean Sea, the statement said. The planes left […]

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Obama says hopes Trump will ‘stand up’ to Russia

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — US President Barack Obama said Thursday he hoped his successor Donald Trump would “stand up” to Russia when it breaches international norms, citing the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine. Obama said he hoped Trump, who has voiced admiration for President Vladimir Putin, “is willing to stand up to Russia where they are deviating from our values and international norms”. Speaking at a Berlin joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, […]

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North Korea to top US agenda at final Obama-Xi meeting

by Andrew BEATTY LIMA, Peru (AFP) — President Barack Obama will use his final meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping Saturday to press for an increase in the pace and severity of sanctions against North Korea. With Pyongyang launching test after provocative test to develop a miniaturized nuclear warhead and a missile capable of delivering that deadly payload to the United States, Obama’s White House wants to ratchet up the pressure before he leaves office […]

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