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by Brian KNOWLTON WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Donald Trump’s defenders and supporters skirmished over the airwaves on Sunday a day after the US president’s legal team dismissed his impeachment trial as unconstitutional and dangerous. Coming two days before Trump’s trial opens in the Senate, the clashing arguments offered an early taste of the historic drama to play out in the coming weeks. Beginning Tuesday, the chamber will meet six hours a day for six […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — A 6.0 magnitude earthquake hit a remote area of northwest China’s Xinjiang region late Sunday, the US Geological Survey said. The shallow quake struck at 9:27 pm (1327 GMT) around 100 kilometers (60 miles) east-northeast of the ancient Silk Road city of Kashgar. In its initial assessment, the USGS said there was a low likelihood of casualties. It said however that significant damage was likely, with many buildings in the region […]
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP) — More than 100 people were killed and dozens wounded in a missile and drone attack blamed on Huthi rebels in central Yemen, officials said Sunday. Saturday’s strike follows months of relative calm in the war between the Iran-backed Huthis and Yemen’s internationally recognized government, which is supported by a Saudi-led military coalition. The Huthis attacked a mosque in a military camp in the central province of Marib — about […]
KIEV, Ukraine (AFP) — The flag-draped coffins of the 11 Ukrainians who died in a plane mistakenly shot down by Iran amid heightened tensions with Washington arrived in Kiev on Sunday. President Volodymyr Zelensky, Prime Minister Oleksiy Goncharuk and other officials attended the solemn ceremony at Kiev’s Boryspil airport to see the downed plane’s nine Ukrainian flight crew and two passengers being removed from the aircraft, according to live video footage. Ukraine International Airlines […]
A strong 6.0 magnitude earthquake shook Indonesia’s easternmost region of Papua on Sunday, the United States Geological Survey said. There was no tsunami warning accompanying the quake which struck inland 158 kilometres (98 miles) from the provincial capital Jayapura at a shallow depth of almost 34 kilometers, USGS said. The Southeast Asian archipelago is one of the most disaster-prone nations on Earth. In 2018, a 7.5-magnitude quake and a subsequent tsunami in Palu on […]
NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar (AFP) — China and Myanmar are set to ink mammoth infrastructure deals following a meeting on Saturday between President Xi Jinping and fallen rights icon Aung San Suu Kyi, who pledged to stand with Beijing “till the end of the world”. The Chinese leader’s two-day state visit to Myanmar’s purpose-built capital comes as Western investors cast a wide berth around the country due to the Rohingya crisis. A 2017 military crackdown on the […]
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AFP) — An avalanche in Nepal’s Annapurna region has left at least seven people missing, including four South Koreans and three Nepalis, officials said Saturday. The incident occurred at an altitude of around 3,230 meters (10,597 feet) close to the base camp for Annapurna, one of the highest peaks in the Himalayas, following heavy snowfall on Friday. “We are getting reports that four South Koreans and three Nepalis are out of contact after […]
by Rob Lever Agence France Presse Iran is widely expected to ramp up cyberattacks against the United States in response to the US killing of a top Iranian leader this month even as fears have receded about a military confrontation between the two countries. The simmering tensions since the US drone attack that killed Qasem Soleimani, who was by some measures the second most influential person in Iran, make it likely that Iran will seek […]
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — A United States warship has sailed through the Taiwan Strait, Taipei’s defence ministry said Friday, the first such passage since the island resoundingly re-elected its independence-leaning president. The warship was on a “routine mission”, the ministry said, as it traversed the stretch of water that divides the self-ruling island from the authoritarian Chinese mainland. The waterway bristles with hardware on both sides and China views any sail-by as a breach […]
PARIS, France (AFP) – Stuart WILLIAMS Global decision-makers gather in Davos starting Tuesday for their annual meeting, with challenges facing the planet — from climate change to conflict in the Middle East — as imposing as the Alps that surround the Swiss resort. Observers fear the annual World Economic Forum will serve only to again expose the differences between East and West, the US and the EU, and business and activists in combating the most […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — A second person has died in China from a mystery virus that has stricken dozens and appeared in two other Asian countries, officials said. Local authorities said a 69-year-old man died on Wednesday in Wuhan, the central Chinese city believed to be the epicenter of an outbreak of a coronavirus from the same family as the deadly SARS pathogen. The outbreak has caused alarm because of the link with SARS (Severe […]
DOHA, Qatar (AFP) — Qatar scrapped mandatory exit permits for migrant domestic staff and other groups on Thursday, as part of efforts to boost rights for guest workers amid scrutiny of its record. Previously all foreigners working permanently in the gas-rich country required authorization from bosses to leave, but now only military personnel will routinely require such a dispensation. Qatar has made a series of reforms to its employment regulations since being selected to host […]
