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BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) – by W.G. Dunlop and Ali Choukeir Iraqi forces have broken into jihadist-held Mosul and recaptured neighbourhoods inside the city, but a month into their offensive, there are still weeks or more of potentially heavy fighting ahead. Iraq launched the massive operation to recapture Mosul, which has been held by the Islamic State group since 2014, on October 17, advancing on the city from the north, east and south. Iraq’s elite Counter-Terrorism Service […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Terrorism deaths fell last year thanks to a weakening of the Islamic State group in Iraq and Boko Haram in Nigeria, but both groups expanded their geographic reach, a new index revealed Wednesday. Some 29,376 people died from terrorism in 2015, down 3,389 on the previous year and the first fall since 2010, according to the Global Terrorism Index published by the Institute for Economics and Peace. This fall […]
by Agence France Presse KIEV, Ukraine (AFP) — Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko asked Donald Trump for support against “Russian aggression” during a congratulatory telephone conversation with the US president-elect on Tuesday. Trump’s shock election victory has been met with trepidation in Kiev because of the outspoken reality TV star’s praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and his apparent indifference to the Western coalition against Moscow. The billionaire businessman suggested earlier this year the US could […]
KABUL, Afghanistan (Reuters) — A suicide bomber on a motorbike killed at least four people and wounded several in an attack on a vehicle carrying national security officials in Kabul on Wednesday (November 16), a security official at the scene in the Afghan capital told Reuters. An interior ministry official confirmed the attack but could not say immediately how many people had been killed or wounded. Najib Danish, a spokesman for the interior ministry, […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Two French tourists died Wednesday while snorkelling at a popular tourist spot on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, authorities said. The man and woman, reportedly in their 60s, were spotted floating in the water at Michaelmas Cay, a reef-ringed sand island near Cairns, by staff working for dive company Passions of Paradise, chief executive Scotty Garden said. “The Passions of Paradise lookout on the beach noticed a man floating in […]
by Rouba El Husseini BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Internet cafes closed down, travel bans and new checkpoints: residents say jihadists are trying to tighten their grip on power in Raqa as US-backed forces near the Islamic State group’s Syrian bastion. A Kurdish-Arab alliance called the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) began an operation to recapture the northern city on November 5. Since then, residents say IS has tried to seal its stronghold off from the outside world, […]
NEW YORK CITY, United States (Reuters) — The companies behind the Dakota Access Pipeline asked a U.S. court to intervene in the fight over its completion as demonstrators fanned out across North America on Tuesday (November 15) to protest the controversial project. In New York City, a demonstration was held a day after the U.S. government delayed granting an easement for the pipeline’s construction in North Dakota. “We want to stand with the Sioux people […]
by Chris FOLEY CHRISTCHURCH, United States (AFP) — Rescue efforts after a devastating earthquake in New Zealand intensified Wednesday as a fleet of international warships began arriving in the disaster zone. New Zealand’s HMNZS Canterbury was the first to anchor at the South Island seaside town of Kaikoura to evacuate tourists trapped by the powerful 7.8 tremor. Vessels from the United States, Canada and Australia were also steaming toward the town, which bore the brunt […]
CUBA, South America (Reuters) — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a floral offering at the monument of Cuban national hero Jose Marti on Tuesday (November 15) as the first act of his official visit in Cuba. Trudeau arrived in Cuba on Tuesday for an official visit that will include meetings with Cuban President Raul Castro. Cuban Vice President Miguel Diaz-Canel was at the Jose Marti International Airport when Trudeau and his wife Sophie Gregoire […]
by Maggy Donaldson with Catherine Triomphe in New York WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Hundreds of students in Washington ditched school Tuesday to protest against US President-elect Donald Trump, marching through the heart of the US capital before descending on the White House. They joined youth across the country who have staged similar walkouts since Trump’s shock victory on November 8, carrying signs with messages like “spread love,” “my black is beautiful” and “make America […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A mayor from West Virginia has resigned amid a furor over a racist Facebook post that described First Lady Michelle Obama as an “ape in heels,” US media said. Beverly Whaling, the mayor of the tiny town of Clay, had appeared to applaud the incendiary comment and stepped down Tuesday amid the ensuing firestorm, according to a town official, Joe Coleman. Clay County Development Corp. director Pamela Ramsey had reportedly […]
by Alexandre GROSBOIS HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) — Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived in Cuba Tuesday to boost ties as a breakthrough in the communist island’s US relations hung in the balance following Donald Trump’s presidential election win. After arriving at Havana airport, Trudeau headed straight to the city’s iconic Revolution Square and laid a wreath, an AFP photographer saw. He was scheduled later to meet with Cuba’s President Raul Castro, officials said. The two-day […]
