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by Ben Dooley BEIJING, China (AFP) — The disputed rocks and reefs of the South China Sea are more than an ocean away from the landlocked African nation of Niger. But that has not stopped the strife-ridden, largely desert country of 17 million people adding its voice to a growing diplomatic chorus that Beijing says supports its rejection of an international tribunal hearing on the waters. Others apparently singing from the same hymn sheet include […]
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AFP) – Amnesty International has accused nearly half of the European Union’s members of fuelling killings and torture among other abuses in Egypt through arms exports, in a report issued on Wednesday. International organisations have accused Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of running an ultra-authoritarian and repressive regime since he deposed his democratically elected Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi in 2013. In its report, Amnesty said “12 out of 28 EU member states […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) – by Alex PIGMAN Eurozone ministers reached Wednesday a vital deal to unlock urgent cash for Greece but analysts warned promises to tackle the country’s debt mountain are sketchy, spelling trouble further down the road. The agreement unlocks 10.3 billion euros ($12 billion) in bailout cash that Greece needs to repay big loans to the European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in July, having already fallen behind in paying for […]
by Huw GRIFFITH ISE-SHIMA, Japan(AFP) — World leaders began gathering in Japan Wednesday ahead of a Group of Seven summit set to be dominated by the lackluster global economy. The leaders were to make their way to Ise Shima, a mountainous and sparsely populated area 300 kilometers (200 miles) southwest of Tokyo, whose mainly elderly residents rely chiefly on tourism and cultured pearls. Security was tight across the region, with thousands of extra police drafted […]
BOGOTA, Colombia (AFP) — Five journalists covering a colleague’s suspected kidnapping by leftist guerrillas in northeast Colombia were attacked and detained by unknown assailants, and two of them are still missing, officials said Tuesday. The reporters had gone to the restive region of Catatumbo to cover the disappearance of Spanish-Colombian journalist Salud Hernandez-Mora, a prominent correspondent for Spanish newspaper El Mundo who went missing over the weekend. While working Monday in the town of El […]
OSLO, Norway (AFP) — Islamic State fighters are using civilians as human shields in the group’s de facto Syria capital Raqa, a Syrian activist said Tuesday, complicating things for a Kurdish-Arab alliance which has launched an offensive in the area. The Syrian Democratic Forces, a seven-month-old alliance between Kurdish and Arab forces, launched an offensive on Tuesday in areas north of Raqa. The operation is potentially one of the most serious ground efforts against IS […]
KABUL, Afghanistan(AFP) — The Afghan Taliban on Wednesday announced influential religious figure Haibatullah Akhundzada as their new leader after confirming supremo Mullah Akhtar Mansour’s death in a US drone strike. “Haibatullah Akhundzada has been appointed as the new leader of the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) after a unanimous agreement in the shura (supreme council), and all the members of shura pledged allegiance to him,” the insurgents said in a statement. It added that Sirajuddin Haqqani, an […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Survivors of the American nuclear bombing of Hiroshima will be present when US President Barack Obama lays a wreath at ground zero this week, reports said Wednesday. Former United States prisoners of war captured by the Japanese will also attend the event, the Yomiuri Shimbun said, with US officials hoping their presence will remove any impression it is an apology. Obama will offer a floral tribute and make comments in front […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Senator Bernie Sanders on Tuesday called for a recount of votes cast in last weeks’ Kentucky Democratic presidential primary, after unofficial results showed him narrowly losing the state to frontrunner Hillary Clinton. “I hereby request a full and complete check and recanvass of every one of the voting machines and absentee ballots from all precincts in all 120 counties involving the Democratic presidential race from the 2016 primary election,” […]
by Ben Dooley BEIJING, China (AFP) — The disputed rocks and reefs of the South China Sea are more than an ocean away from the landlocked African nation of Niger. But that has not stopped the strife-ridden, largely desert country of 17 million people adding its voice to a growing diplomatic chorus that Beijing says supports its rejection of an international tribunal hearing on the waters. Others apparently singing from the same hymn sheet include […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Christie’s auction house has been fined £3,250 ($4,750, 4,270 euros) for selling a piece of elephant ivory without the correct documentation, London police said Tuesday. The silver-mounted tusk, put up for auction last year, did not have the right documentation under wildlife protection laws, a police statement said. A representative for the auction house pleaded guilty in London for selling the ivory, in contravention of an article in the Convention […]
WASHINGTON , United States (AFP) — US prosecutors will seek the death penalty for the gunman suspected of killing nine black churchgoers in South Carolina last year, Attorney General Loretta Lynch announced Tuesday. Dylann Roof, 22, allegedly joined an evening Bible study class at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, then shot participants with a .45-caliber Glock handgun. Three people survived the shooting. Roof was arrested in North Carolina a day after the shooting. […]
