RIYADH, Saudi Arabia | AFP | — Saudi Arabia on Tuesday executed a member of the royal family for murder, in a rare case involving one of the thousands of members of the House of Saud. Prince Turki bin Saud al-Kabir was put to death in the capital Riyadh for shooting dead Adel al-Mahemid, a Saudi, during a brawl, the interior ministry said in a statement. Kabir was the 134th local or foreigner put to […]
International
North Korea holds Red Cross congress in Pyongyang
PYONGYANG, North Korea (Reuters) — North Korea held a congress of its Red Cross Society on Tuesday (October 18) in Pyongyang. Video provided by KCNA, which Reuters cannot independently verify, showed North Korean officials and foreign delegations were seen attending the congress at the People’s Palace of Culture in Pyongyang. Delegations from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Danish, Finnish and British Red Cross, […]
Obama congratulates next UN chief Guterres on appointment
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Barack Obama Tuesday congratulated the next UN chief Antonio Guterres on his recent election, pledging that the US would continue to work closely with the world body. In the phone call Obama stressed to the former Portuguese president, who will become the new secretary general of the United Nations on January 1, the importance of UN reform efforts, including “ensuring effective and accountable peacekeeping.” “The President pledged our […]
Belgian minister’s twitter feed hacked, amid trade deal tensions
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — The twitter account of Belgian Foreign Minister Didier Reynders was hacked on Tuesday, his ministry said, just hours after EU ministers failed to agree on a trade deal with Canada due to opposition by Belgium. “The personal twitter account of MFA Didier Reynders was hacked. The recent messages that are published on this account are not his,” the Belgian ministry of foreign affairs said in a tweet. The posting by Reynders […]
‘Stop whining,’ Obama scolds Trump
by Andrew BEATTY with Michael MATHES in Colorado Springs WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Barack Obama on Tuesday slapped down Donald Trump’s claim that the 2016 presidential race is rigged, telling the Republican nominee to “stop whining” and get on with his campaign. In language usually used to scold a moody teenager, Obama discarded diplomatic decorum and skewered the mogul from the Rose Garden in front of visiting Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Trump […]
Iraq makes gains in ‘difficult’ assault on IS-held Mosul
by W.G. Dunlop with Ahmad al-Rubaye in Al-Shura and Colin Bertier in Arbil QAYYARAH, Iraq (AFP) — Tens of thousands of Iraqi forces were making gains from the Islamic State group in Mosul Tuesday in an offensive US President Barack Obama warned would be a “difficult fight”. With the crucial battle in its second day, Iraqi commanders said progress was being made as fighters pushed on two main fronts against the jihadists’ last stronghold in […]
Typhoon Sarika brings gale, downpour to Qionghai
Qionghai, China (CCTV) — Typhoon Sarika brought gale and heavy downpour to Qionghai City of south China’s island province of Hainan Tuesday morning. According to local observatory, the maximum rainfall reached 236 millimeters in the town of Huishan within three hours from 05:00 to 08:00. The gale triggered huge waves in the sea. Sarika, the 21st typhoon of the year, made landfall at 09:50 Tuesday in the town of Hele in Wanning City, around 50 […]
Russia announces Aleppo truce as EU warns of ‘war crimes’
by Karam al-Masri with Maya Gebeily in Beirut ALEPPO, Syria (AFP) — Russia has announced an eight-hour “humanitarian” ceasefire in Aleppo later this week, as the EU warned that the Syrian regime’s Moscow-backed assault on the city could amount to a war crime. The United Nations and European Union welcomed the announcement, but said Thursday’s planned pause in fighting needed to be longer to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid. Meanwhile, dozens of civilians including […]
Melania Trump shrugs off husband’s way with women
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Despite a flurry of sexual assault accusations against Donald Trump and recordings of him boasting that he uses his fame to grope and kiss women, Melania Trump on Monday shrugged off her husband’s “boy talk” in an interview with CNN. Just as her billionaire husband has, the Slovenian-born ex-model slammed the media for unfair treatment of the Republican White House nominee who has recently lost ground in the polls to […]
Clinton widens lead in latest poll as Trump cries foul
by Michael Mathes NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Hillary Clinton has widened her lead over Donald Trump nationally and in key swing states three weeks before Election Day, a poll showed Monday, as the Republican presidential nominee struggled to find a way back into the race. Trump, whose campaign has been reeling in the face of lewd comments about women and accusations of sexual assault, has doubled down on claims of “large scale voter […]
Inmates beheaded in Brazil prison riots: police
by Claire DE OLIVEIRA NETO RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Rioting inmates beheaded rivals and burned others alive in an explosion of violence in two Brazilian jails that left at least 18 people dead on Monday, the authorities said. Prisoners also took women visitors hostage, officials said, blaming the violence on a rift between the country’s two largest gangs. It was the latest eruption of gruesome violence to hit Brazil’s underfunded and overcrowded prisons. […]
UN announces 72-hour ceasefire in Yemen starting Thursday
UNITED NATION, United States (AFP) — A 72-hour ceasefire in Yemen will go into effect starting Thursday, the United Nations announced on Monday. A cessation of hostilities that first went into effect in April “will re-enter into force at 23:59 Yemen time (2059 GMT) on 19 October 2016, for an initial period of 72 hours, subject to renewal,” the UN’s special envoy for Yemen, Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmed, said in a statement. The announcement comes after […]
