International

Myanmar’s Suu Kyi reiterates stance on not using term ‘Rohingya’

    (Reuters)  Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has told the U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights that the government will avoid using the term “Rohingya” to describe a persecuted Muslim minority in the country’s northwest, an official told Reuters on Monday. Members of the 1.1 million group, who identify themselves by the term “Rohingya” and live in apartheid-like conditions, are seen by many Myanmar Buddhists as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh. The term is […]

Orlando gunman told 911 he would strap explosives to hostages, had vehicles rigged with bombs

  (REUTERS)  The gunman who slaughtered 49 people at a gay nightclub in Florida said he had a car rigged with bombs outside and threatened to strap hostages into explosive vests, according to partial transcripts of 911 calls he made released on Monday. Omar Mateen, 29, paused during a three-hour siege to telephone emergency dispatchers three times and to post internet messages from inside the Pulse nightclub professing his support for Islamist militant groups. “You […]

Incoming Philippine minister seeks emergency powers to fix traffic snarl

(REUTERS)   The incoming Philippines transportation chief said on Monday President-elect Rodrigo Duterte should be given emergency powers by Congress for two years to solve a debilitating traffic crisis in the capital Manila and elsewhere. The emergency powers will quicken the release of government funds aimed at declogging main roads that have hurt businesses and the overall economy. Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade, speaking on the sidelines of a business conference, cited the 2.4 billion pesos ($52 […]

Record 65 million people displaced worldwide: UN

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The number of people displaced worldwide has hit a new record, with 65.3 million people forced from their home as of the end of 2015, the UN said Monday. “This is the first time that the threshold of 60 million has been crossed,” the UN refugee agency said. The figures, released on World Refugee Day, underscore twin pressures fuelling an unprecedented global displacement crisis. As conflict and persecution force growing numbers […]

Women take charge as populist surge sweeps Italy

by Angus MACKINNON ROME, Italy (AFP) — Virginia Raggi was elected Sunday as Rome’s first female mayor in a triumph for the populist Five Star Movement (M5S) that represents a stinging setback for Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Raggi swept into City Hall with two thirds of the votes cast in a run-off contest with Roberto Giachetti of Renzi’s centre-left Democratic Party (PD). The anti-establishment M5S also claimed control of the northern city of Turin, […]

Suicide bomber hits minibus in Kabul: police

KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — A suicide bomber hit a minibus carrying foreign security guards and caused several casualties early Monday in Kabul along the main road to the eastern city of Jalalabad, police said. The attacker was on foot, according to police, who refused to give a toll but said there were “multiple casualties” among the bus passengers who were “employees of a foreign compound”. The bus was carrying Nepalese guards, according to an AFP […]

Africa summit tackles violence against albinos

by Nicolas DELAUNAY DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (AFP) — A “Miss and Mister Albino” contest, heavy sentences for ritual murder and concrete graves to ward off tomb raiders were all discussed at a UN summit on albinism concluding in Tanzania on Monday. During the four-day meeting people with albinism and advocates for their rights discussed ways to safeguard and improve the lives of those who suffer discrimination, health problems and even murder as a result […]

Three dead, dozens injured in Mexico protest

by Victor Ruiz OAXA, Mexico (AFP) — At least three people were killed and dozens wounded when police clashed with thousands of teachers blocking roads in a protest in southern Mexico on Sunday, leaving three officers with bullet wounds. Police launched tear gas to disperse the teachers and authorities denied reports that officers were wielding lethal weapons to break up the protest in Asuncion Nochixtlan, a town in Oaxaca state. Some vehicles were set on […]

Explosion hits minibus in Kabul: police

KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — An explosion hit a minibus in Kabul early Monday on the main road to the eastern city of Jalalabad, police said. There were fears of numerous casualties with more than two dozen ambulances at the scene, according to an AFP journalist. 1994-2016 Agence France-Presse

UK’s Cameron faces day of reckoning with EU vote

by Katherine HADDON LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — After years of seeing his premiership buffeted by rows over Europe, British Prime Minister David Cameron faces his day of reckoning for country and career in Thursday’s EU referendum. Opinion polls put the vote on European Union membership neck-and-neck, and if Britain does become the first state ever to withdraw from the bloc, Cameron’s epitaph will be sealed after six years in power. “He’s put himself front […]

Bolivia plans strategy in case against Chile over disputed Silala River

Bolivian President Evo Morales oversaw on Sunday (June 19) the first meeting of the Silala Defence Council as Bolivian authorities prepared a strategy for its case against Chile over the disputed Silala River. Early in June, Chilean officials submitted documentation to start formal legal proceedings over the Silala river, asking the International Court of Justice to declare it “an international watercourse” and granting Chile usage rights. President Evo Morales responded by saying he will counter-sue […]

Britain’s rival EU camps resume campaign as polls show momentum for ‘In’

(REUTERS)  Campaigning for Britain’s vote on EU membership resumed on Sunday after a three-day hiatus prompted by the killing of a pro-EU lawmaker, but pledges of a more respectful tone were quickly tested by a fresh row over immigration. Three opinion polls ahead of Thursday’s vote showed the ‘Remain’ camp recovering some momentum, although the overall picture remained one of an evenly split electorate. The killing of Jo Cox, a 41-year-old mother of two young […]