International

Maritime disputes loom large as US, China hold talks

by Nicolas REVISE BEIJING, China (AFP) — Mounting tensions over South China Sea territorial rows could overshadow US-China talks in Beijing Monday, after the two global powers exchanged barbs over the disputed waterway. China claims nearly all of the sea despite competing declarations by several Southeast Asian neighbors and has built artificial islands suitable for military use in the South China Sea. Washington has responded by sending warships close to Chinese-claimed reefs, angering Beijing. Tensions […]

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Iraqi civilians drown fleeing Falluja as city nearly encircled

(Reuters)  A boat carrying fleeing civilians across a river from the Islamic State stronghold of Falluja sank on Saturday, killing at least four people, as pro-Baghdad forces said they had the city almost completely encircled. Two children, their mother and a man drowned crossing the 300-metre (1,000-feet) wide Euphrates, one the few escape routes left for civilians hoping to leave the besieged town as the war against the militants intensifies. Nine other people believed to […]

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Passenger, freight trains crash in Belgium, killing three

(Reuters)  A passenger train crashed into the back of a freight train in the eastern Belgian municipality of Saint-Georges-Sur-Meuse late on Sunday, killing three people and injuring 40, Belgian officials said. “A train… carrying around 40 passengers crashed into the back of a freight train on the same track,” Belgian railways SNCB said in a statement. “The collision derailed two of the six carriages.” Françis Dejon, the mayor of the Saint-Georges-Sur-Meuse district told Belga news […]

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Syrian and Russian aircraft step up bombing of Aleppo city – monitor

  (Reuters)    Nearly 50 air strikes hit rebel-held areas in and around the Syrian city of Aleppo on Sunday in some of the heaviest recent raids by Russian and Syrian government aircraft, residents and a monitoring group said. The group, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, also said an unidentified war plane had crashed in countryside south of Aleppo, in an area where Islamist rebel fighters are battling the Syrian army and Iranian-backed forces. It […]

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Philippines’ Duterte tells mining companies to ‘shape up’

Reuters) Philippine President-elect Rodrigo Duterte warned mining companies to “shape up”, as he signaled he would prefer ownership of mining assets to be left to local investors. He also said the incoming government may rewrite rules to limit environmental degradation in the sector. Duterte, who assumes office on June 30, has named nearly all his cabinet members this week but has yet to appoint a new minister that will oversee the Southeast Asian country’s mining […]

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US journalist David Gilkey, translator killed in Afghanistan: NPR

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — American journalist David Gilkey and his Afghan translator were killed Sunday while traveling with an Afghan army unit that came under fire in southern Helmand province, National Public Radio announced. The translator was identified as Zabihullah Tamanna. Two other journalists traveling with Gilkey, named as reporter Tom Bowman and producer Monika Evstatieva, were unharmed. NPR said the vehicle in which Gilkey, 50, and his translator were traveling was struck by […]

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Maritime tensions loom large as the United States and China hold talks

  Beijing, China (AFP)—-Mounting tensions over South China Sea territorial rows could overshadow United States-China talks in Beijing Monday, after the two global powers exchanged barbs over the disputed waterway. China claims nearly all of the sea despite competing declarations by several Southeast Asian neighbors, and has built artificial islands suitable for military use in the South China Sea. Washington has responded by sending warships close to Chinese-claimed reefs, angering Beijing. Tensions mounted after the […]

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Iran: Saudi the real ‘terrorism sponsor’

Iranian flags. (File photo)   Tehran, Iran (AFP)—Tehran on Sunday dismissed its renewed blacklisting by Washington as a state sponsor of terrorism, charging that it was United States allies including Riyadh that were the real culprits. The Iranian foreign ministry noted its role in neighboring Iraq supporting the government against the Islamic State jihadist group independently of a US-led coalition, as well as its backing for the Syrian regime against jihadists and other rebels, some […]

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Paris floods ease but alerts in France’s north

  by Hervé Lionnet PARIS, France (AFP) — The rain-swollen River Seine in Paris receded after reaching its highest level in three decades as attention turned Sunday to other areas of France where alert warnings have been issued. From a peak of 6.10 metres (20 feet) in the early hours of Saturday, the river began to subside, falling to 5.77 metres at 8am (0600 GMT), the environment ministry’s Vigicrues flood watch website said. However, red alerts […]

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Lightning strikes injure 51 at German music festival

(Reuters) At least 51 people were injured by lightning strikes at the “Rock am Ring” music festival in western Germany on Friday evening, according to German police, with forecasts of thunderstorms and possibly hail to come. Organizers could not be reached for comment about any plans to shut down the festival, which is now in its 31st year and takes place at the airport in Mendig, a small town located about 150 km from Frankfurt, […]

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China urged to cooperate as Asia worries about South China Sea row

(Reuters)    China came under pressure from the United States and Asian powers to rein in its actions in the South China Sea, with the U.S. defense secretary urging Beijing to join in on regional cooperation or risk erecting a “Great Wall of self-isolation.” U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter encouraged China to participate in a “principled security network” for Asia to help counter concerns about its strategic intentions following “expansive and unprecedented actions” in the South […]

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Key fights in the boxing career of Muhammad Ali

(Reuters) Important bouts in the career of former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali: * Sept. 5, 1960 – Wins the Olympic light-heavyweight gold medal in Rome in a unanimous decision over Zbigniew Pietrzykowski of Poland. * Oct. 29, 1960 – Makes his professional debut in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky, winning a six-round unanimous decision over Tunney Hunsaker, whose day job was police chief of Fayetteville, West Virginia. * Feb. 25, 1964 – Boasting a 19-0 […]

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