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TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iranians vote Friday in elections billed by the moderate president as vital to curbing conservative dominance in parliament and speeding up domestic reforms after a nuclear deal with world powers. A pro-government coalition called “The List of Hope” is representing President Hassan Rouhani’s ambitions in the polls. Almost 55 million people are eligible to cast ballots that will ultimately elect 290 lawmakers. They will also vote in a second election to select the […]
UNITED STATES, United States (AFP) — The UN Security Council is expected to vote Friday on a US-Russian draft resolution endorsing the Syria ceasefire, diplomats said. The 15-member council is set to meet as of 2000 GMT to hear a report from UN envoy Staffan de Mistura and could vote on the measure at that session. The draft text obtained by AFP welcomes the truce as “a step towards a lasting ceasefire” and endorses the US-Russian agreement […]
MEXICO CITY, Mexico (Reuters) — U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday (February 25) said he felt “almost obliged” to say sorry for verbal attacks on Mexico in the U.S. presidential campaign, in which Republican front-runner Donald Trump has labelled Mexican migrants rapists and drug runners. Speaking alongside Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto during a visit to Mexico City, Biden never mentioned Trump, who nonetheless loomed large over the proceedings. “There’s been a lot of […]
SUVA, Fiji (AFP) — Humanitarian aid was finally reaching isolated communities in Fiji devastated by super-cyclone Winston, officials said Friday, with the government estimating the damage bill will top hundreds of millions of dollars. At least 44 people died when the most powerful storm in Fiji’s history hit on Saturday and the UN says about 50,000 — more than five percent of the entire population — have been left homeless. Some of the worst-affected villages were on […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Barack Obama put the onus for upholding a ceasefire in Syria firmly on the regime and its Russian ally Thursday, warning Moscow and Damascus that the “world will be watching.” Hours before the Saturday cessation of hostilities comes into force, Obama huddled with his top national security advisors to plot the way forward and discuss the campaign against the Islamic State group. “Everybody knows what needs to happen,” Obama […]
WASHINGTON D. C., United States (Reuters) — U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday (February 25) expressed confidence that the United States would prevail in its fight against the Islamic State, but said that an end to the conflict in Syria would be key to dismantling the group. Obama made the comments following a meeting with the National Security Council at the State Department. Obama said his security team was realistic about how difficult the fight […]
ANTOFAGASTA, Chile (Reuters) — Dozens of sea lions have washed up on Chile’s northern shore in the region of Antofagasta, local media reported on Thursday (February 25). It was a grim scene on the beach of the coastal town of Hornitos, with most of them found in an advanced state of decomposition. Chilean environmental authorities have said the animals are dying of starvation because the El Nino phenomenon is causing a scarcity of phytoplankton. Phytoplankton […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — China is on its way to securing “de facto” control of the South China Sea, a top US admiral warned Thursday, amid growing unease over Beijing’s continued military build up in the contested waterway. By building air bases and hardened bunkers on tiny islands, some of which are reclaimed from the sea, and by installing sophisticated radar and missile defense systems, China has shown it is determined to achieve military primacy in […]
UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — The UN Security Council headed toward a vote on a new US-drafted resolution presented Thursday that would impose the toughest sanctions yet on North Korea over its nuclear and ballistic missile tests. The draft text would require countries to take the unprecedented step of inspecting all cargo to and from North Korea, impose new trade restrictions and bar North Korean vessels suspected of carrying illegal goods from ports. The United States, […]
Kathmandu, Nepal (AFP)—Emergency workers have found the bodies of all 23 passengers and crew killed when their plane crashed into a mountainside in western Nepal, the army said Thursday. The police and army returned to the crash site at first light after abandoning recovery efforts late Wednesday due to bad weather in the remote Himalayan district where the Twin Otter turboprop aircraft came down. The site in Myagdi district is around 16,000 feet (4,900 meters) […]
Suva, Fiji (AFP) — Fiji began a massive clean-up on Sunday after the most powerful cyclone in the Pacific nation’s history left a trail of destruction, killing six people, flattening scores of homes and crippling infrastructure. The super-storm lashed the popular tourist destination overnight Saturday, packing wind gusts of 325 kilometres (202 miles) per hour, according to the UN humanitarian agency OCHA. OCHA said six people were killed during severe tropical cyclone Winston, the first-ever storm […]
(Reuters) – The Olympic torch will visit 329 cities across each of Brazil´s 26 states and the Federal District, the Rio 2016 organising committee announced on Wednesday (February 24) in a colourful ceremony at its headquarters in the centre of Rio de Janeiro. One of the greatest symbols of the Olympics will arrive in Brazil’s capital from the Games’ heartland in Athens on May 3, and will be carried 20,000 kilometres (12,430 miles) across ground […]
