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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Sri Lanka’s parliamentary speaker had to be escorted into the chamber ringed by police Friday as violence broke out for a second day, with lawmakers throwing chilli powder and furniture in the melee between rival factions in the island’s constitutional crisis. The Indian Ocean nation has been paralyzed since October 26 when President Maithripala Sirisena sacked Ranil Wickremesinghe as premier and replaced him with former strongman Mahinda Rajapakse. Speaker […]
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered on October 2 in his country’s consulate in Istanbul. Khashoggi, a Washington Post contributor and critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was drugged, dismembered and then transferred out of the consulate, Riyadh’s public prosecution said on Thursday. Here is what we know about the Saudi nationals allegedly involved in the murder that has provoked an international outcry. – 21 suspects – – […]
by Anuj Chopra with Paul Handley in Washington Agence France Presse RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — The Saudi government exonerated the country’s powerful crown prince of involvement in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi Thursday as death-penalty charges were announced against five men and the US placed sanctions on 17 suspected of involvement. Riyadh prosecutors announced indictments against 11 people and said a total of 21 individuals were in custody in connection with the […]
CHENNAI, India (AFP) — At least 11 people were reported dead Friday as a powerful cyclone battered India’s eastern coast, authorities said. Thousands of trees were felled by winds that destroyed homes and vehicles as hundreds of thousands fled to shelter homes. Cyclone Gaja packed winds of up to 120 kilometers (75 miles) per hour as it barreled into Tamil Nadu state after hitting the coast near Nagapattinam early Friday bringing heavy rains, India’s weather […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States remains confident that denuclearization “promises” made during a historic summit between Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un will be fulfilled, a State Department spokesperson said Thursday. The comments came after state media in Pyongyang said Kim had supervised the testing of a “high-tech” new weapon that Yonhap news agency called successful. “At the Singapore Summit, President Trump and Chairman Kim made a number of commitments […]
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (AFP) — Chinese leader Xi Jinping will sit down with seven Pacific island allies Friday, doling out attention and perhaps some largesse in the hope of convincing more nations to drop recognition of Taiwan. While countries have vied for resource contracts and influence along vital Pacific shipping routes, the region has also become a frontline in the diplomatic war between Beijing and Taipei, which is struggling to retain support amid […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has supervised the testing of a “high-tech” new weapon, Pyongyang’s state media reported Friday according to Yonhap news agency. “Kim Jong Un inspected the testing of a newly developed high-tech tactical weapon at the Academy of National Defence Science,” Yonhap cited the North’s state broadcaster as saying. It said the test was successful but did not specify the type of device involved. The “high-tech […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea said Thursday it would not restart an industrial zone with North Korea until its neighbor moves to give up nuclear weapons, although it voiced hope for progress. Cho Myoung-gyon, the South’s unification minister, said Seoul was abiding by international sanctions on Pyongyang despite President Moon Jae-in’s calls for a step-by-step easing of pressure. “One thing I would like to highlight here is that we are not going to […]
by Sakher Abou El Oun with Mike Smith in Jerusalem Agence France Presse GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) — Israeli air strikes in Gaza killed three Palestinians and destroyed a Hamas TV building on Monday after a barrage of rocket fire from the enclave, as renewed violence threatened to derail efforts to end months of unrest. The flare-up came after a deadly Israeli special forces operation in the Gaza Strip on Sunday that left Hamas […]
KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — Casualties are feared after a huge explosion rocked Kabul on Monday close to where scores of Afghans had been protesting against Taliban attacks on the minority Hazara ethnic group. The blast struck in front of a high school in the downtown area of the Afghan capital, the interior ministry said. A photo shared on the popular WhatsApp messaging app showed several bodies laying on the ground. “It was a huge blast […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea has sent 200 tonnes of tangerines to the North in return for mushrooms Pyongyang gave earlier, Seoul said Monday, in the latest reconciliatory gesture between the neighbors. Seoul is pushing ahead with a rapprochement with the nuclear-armed North while its security ally the US insists pressure on Pyongyang should be maintained until it denuclearizes. The tangerines — a rarity in the North — were being airlifted to Pyongyang […]
by Sakher Abou El Oun Agence France Presse GAZA CITY, Palestinian (AFP) — An exchange of fire erupted during an Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, killing six Palestinians and an Israeli soldier, officials said, while potentially dashing hopes that a recent agreement would restore calm. As tensions rose following the clash, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he would cut short his trip to Paris, where he had been attending […]
