YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AFP) — A suicide bombing by a Boko Haram jihadist has killed at least 10 people in northern Cameroon, a security source said Thursday. It was the latest in a spate of attacks blamed on the Nigeria-based Islamist militant group in northern Cameroon, which have driven tens of thousands of people from their homes. The security source said the attacker blew himself up in the town of Djakana near the Nigerian border overnight. “Seven […]
International
Tunisian killed in Istanbul attack seeking IS-linked son
TUNIS , Tunisia (AFP) — A Tunisian killed in the Istanbul airport attack blamed on the Islamic State group was in Turkey to secure the release of his son detained for joining the jihadists, diplomats said Wednesday. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim quickly pointed the finger at IS over Tuesday’s attack, which killed at least 41 people and wounded 239, although no group has claimed responsibility. One of the dead was a Tunisian identified as […]
N. Korea leader Kim Jong-Un gets new ‘top post’
by Park Chan-Kyong PYONGYANG, North Korea (AFP) — North Korea has created a new, supreme governing commission with leader Kim Jong-Un as its chairman, underlining the 33-year-old’s absolute control over every aspect of state policy in the isolated, nuclear-armed nation. The country’s legislative body, the Supreme People’s Assembly (SPA), unanimously voted Kim as head of the State Affairs Commission on Wednesday, the North’s official KCNA news agency said. The new agency replaces the National Defence […]
Hague court to rule July 12 in South China Sea case
by Jo Biddle and Jan Hennop THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — A little-known international tribunal will early next month step into a bitter dispute over the South China Sea, handing down a ruling which risks further inflaming tensions between Southeast Asian nations and China. The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) — the world’s oldest international tribunal for the peaceful resolution of disputes between nations — said Wednesday it will rule on July 12 in the […]
After Brexit, UN ‘more important’ to Britain
UNITED NATION, United States (AFP) — Britain’s membership on the UN Security Council has become more important for asserting London’s global power after the Brexit vote, the British ambassador to the United Nations said Wednesday. “My job just got even bigger,” Ambassador Matthew Rycroft told reporters. “The Security Council, if anything, has become even more important for the UK as an even larger proportion of our total world outlook.” Britain is one of the five […]
Beijing to reject Hague ruling on South China Sea case
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Beijing will reject any ruling by an international tribunal in a contentious case brought by the Philippines over the South China Sea, the foreign ministry said, as tensions mount over the disputed waters. The United Nations-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) said Wednesday it will rule on July 12 in a closely watched case challenging China’s claims to much of the strategic waterway. Beijing has consistently rejected the tribunal’s right to […]
Obama blasts isolationism, with Trump in sights
by Jerome CARTILLIER OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — US President Barack Obama warned Wednesday against isolationist tendencies in America and elsewhere, calling it “the wrong medicine” to fix legitimate concerns about globalization. While Obama did not mention Donald Trump by name, he took a clear swipe at the Republican presidential candidate’s heated anti-trade rhetoric during a “Three Amigos” summit with his Canadian and Mexican counterparts. “Even if we wanted to we can’t seal ourselves off from […]
41 dead in Istanbul airport carnage blamed on IS
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) by Katy Lee with Fulya Ozerkan in Ankara Turkey pointed the finger of blame at Islamic State jihadists Wednesday after suicide bombers armed with automatic rifles attacked Istanbul’s main international airport, killing 41 people, including foreigners. Witnesses described scenes of terror and panic on Tuesday evening as the attackers began shooting indiscriminately and then blew themselves up at the entrance to Ataturk airport, one of Europe’s busiest hus. The assault, which comes at […]
EgyptAir black box confirms smoke on board: probe
CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) – Data from one of the black boxes of a crashed EgyptAir plane showed smoke alarms had sounded on board, while soot was found on the wreckage, an Egyptian-led investigative committee said Wednesday. The black box had been retrieved from the bottom of the Mediterranean after the Airbus A320 with 66 people on board plunged into the sea on May 19 while heading to Cairo from Paris. It had recorded the flight’s data […]
Sanders: Brexit’s message could draw Trump support in US
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — The same popular frustration that saw a majority of Britons vote to abandon the EU could send droves of disgruntled Americans into the arms of Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders warned on Wednesday. In an opinion piece appearing in the New York Times, Sanders wrote that legions of American voters, alienated by the forces of globalization, are ripe for the message of political retrenchment and economic protectionism espoused by Trump. […]
First US chain hotel in a half-century opens in Cuba
HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) — Starwood Hotels on Tuesday took over management of a luxury hotel in central Havana, becoming the first big American hospitality chain with a presence on the island since the Cuban Revolution a half-century ago. The newly-rechristened Cuba Four Points by Sheraton on Havana’s Quinta Avenida — a hotel owned by the Cuban military — now will be managed by the American hospitality giant. Located in Havana’s Miramar district, the posh hotel […]
Cold kills homeless in Sao Paulo, Brazil’s richest city
by Rosa SULLEIRO SAO PAOLO, Brazil (AFP) — Even under three blankets, Marcio Carvalho can’t stop shaking as he seeks shelter on the streets of Brazil’s biggest and richest city, Sao Paulo. The teeming central streets of a city that is home to 20 million people are deserted at night except for members of the estimated 16,000 homeless population. And while much of Brazil basks in tropical conditions, a chilly wave in the first days […]
