International

Underfire Obama heads to flood-hit Louisiana

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – by Andrew BEATTY Fresh from a two-week vacation, President Barack Obama visits flood-hit Louisiana on Tuesday, hoping to offer support to devastated communities and silence his critics. Obama has been lampooned for not cutting short his Martha’s Vineyard holiday to visit the Gulf Coast state, where heavy rains have submerged thousands of homes. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump visited flood-struck communities last week and goaded the golf-loving president about his absence. “Honestly, […]

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Libya parliament rejects UN-backed unity government

BENGHAZI, Libya (AFP) – Libya’s internationally recognised parliament on Monday voted no confidence in a UN-backed unity government, in a blow to efforts to end the country’s political chaos. But lawmakers gave prime minister-designate Fayez al-Sarraj a 10-day deadline to come up with a new unity government line-up, they said in a statement issued later. The Government of National Accord led by Sarraj is struggling to assert its authority in Libya, which has been riven by […]

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Israel launches ‘dozens’ of Gaza strikes, draws Turkish ire

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – by Stephen Weizman Israel said Monday it staged dozens of strikes on Gaza in response to rocket fire from the strip, causing limited casualties but sparking a war of words with Turkey. “We conducted strikes against several dozen targets in the Gaza Strip” on Sunday, an army spokeswoman told AFP. Palestinian medical officials said four people were wounded by Israeli aircraft and tank fire after a rocket fired from Gaza hit […]

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Trump demands closure of Clinton Foundation

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – Donald Trump on Monday demanded that Hillary Clinton shut down the charitable foundation run by her husband, former US president Bill Clinton, branding it a “corrupt enterprise.” “The Clintons have spent decades as insiders lining their own pockets and taking care of donors instead of the American people,” the Republican presidential candidate said in a statement. “It is now clear that the Clinton Foundation is the most corrupt enterprise in […]

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Big three leaders insist EU not finished after Brexit

ABOARD the GIUSEPPE GARIBALDI aircraft carrier, Italy (AFP) – by Hervé ASQUIN Ella IDE The leaders of France, Germany and Italy insisted Monday that Britain’s decision to quit the European Union would not kill the bloc. Speaking aboard an aircraft carrier anchored off the Italian island of Ventotene, one of the cradles of the dream of a united, integrated Europe, the leaders vowed to relaunch the European project in the wake of the Brexit shock. […]

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Turkey seeks to identify IS child bomber who killed 54

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) – by Fulya OZERKAN Stuart WILLIAMS Turkish authorities scrambled Monday to identify a child suicide bomber acting on the orders of Islamic State jihadists who killed 54 people including several children at a Kurdish wedding close to the Syrian border. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said the IS group needed to be completely pushed out of the border zone inside Syria, amid Turkish media reports of an Ankara-backed offensive by rebels against the group. […]

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Fraught DR Congo faces national strike over election row

KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) – by Bienvenu-Marie BAKUMANYA The tense DR Congo faces a nationwide shutdown Tuesday after the country’s main opposition alliance refused to join talks with President Joseph Kabila’s government in a stormy row over delayed presidential elections. The fractured opposition recently came together in a new coalition — “Rassemblement” (Gathering) — headed by veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi to demand Kabila end his 15-year rule and step down when his mandate expires on […]

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Deadly battles as Yemen army seeks to break Taez siege

ADEN, Yemen (AFP) – Deadly clashes raged on Monday between Yemeni government forces battling to secure an entrance to the besieged city of Taez and Shiite Huthi rebels surrounding it, military sources said. Backed by a Saudi-led Arab coalition, Yemeni troops launched an offensive last week to break the rebel siege on Yemen’s flashpoint third city, in the country’s southwest. The heaviest fighting Monday was near its western entrance where air strikes by the Arab […]

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INC holds special service for all choir members in Southern Europe

  By Lyn Tumbaga-Diez BARCELONA, Spain– The Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ)  in Southern Europe hosted a special service for all choir members in the District. Close to 600 choir members travelled from across Southern Europe to attend this special gathering– from Madrid, Marbella, Milan, Rome, Firenze, Palma de Mallorca, Ibiza, Bilbao, and Israel. Those in Jerusalem were able to join the service via online connection. Iglesia Ni Cristo’s Southern Europe’s District Minister Brother […]

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Japan’s first lady visits Pearl Harbor

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The wife of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has visited Pearl Harbor, bombed by Japanese planes nearly 75 years ago in an attack that brought the United States into World War II. It was not clear exactly when Akie Abe made the visit. But she posted 11 pictures on her official Facebook page, apparently early Monday. “I offered flowers and my prayers at the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor,” she wrote. […]

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Airport protest as China official visits Taiwan

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwanese shouting anti-communist slogans staged an airport protest Monday against a visit by a top Shanghai official which they see as intended to promote China’s unification with Taiwan. Sha Hailin, a standing committee member of the Communist Party in the city and head of the United Front Work Department there, is the highest-level mainlander to visit since cross-strait ties worsened under Taiwan’s new government. He arrived in Taipei for an annual […]

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China state media casts doubt on Syria Omran video

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s state broadcaster has questioned the authenticity of the video of Syrian boy Omran which went viral worldwide, alleging it may have been faked as part of a Western “propaganda war”. The video showed the stunned-looking four-year-old covered in blood and dust after an air strike in Aleppo last week, with the US State Department calling the child “the real face” of the Syrian war. Beijing supports the Syrian government led […]

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