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AMMAN, Jordan (AFP) — Jordan on Thursday received over $1 billion in financial aid from three key Gulf backers as part of a broader package to help ease an economic crisis, a government source said. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait in June offered a $2.5-billion (2.2 billion euro) lifeline to Amman after a wave of protests. Finance ministers from the three countries officially signed off on the commitments at a meeting in […]
by Harry Pearl Agence France Presse PALU, Indonesia (AFP) — An international aid effort to help tens of thousands of victims of Indonesia’s quake-tsunami disaster swung into gear Thursday after days of delays, with planes flying in vital supplies for shattered communities. A total of 1,424 people have been confirmed dead and over 2,500 injured after the monster earthquake struck Friday, sending destructive waves barrelling into Sulawesi island. The double disaster reduced buildings in […]
By KIM TONG-HYUNG Associated Press SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean government delegation arrived in North Korea on Thursday for a joint celebration of the anniversary of a 2007 summit and to possibly hold further peace talks. South Korean Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon said the visit is an opportunity to strengthen “reconciliation, cooperation and peace” between the rivals. Cho’s group was greeted at Pyongyang’s airport by Ri Son Gwon, chairman of the North […]
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — An India-led coalition to harness solar energy will eventually replace the OPEC oil cartel, India’s premier predicted Tuesday, as he opened the International Solar Alliance’s first assembly with UN chief Antonio Guterres. “The role of the oil wells today will be that of the Sun’s rays tomorrow,” Narendra Modi said at the meeting in New Delhi. “In the coming years, when the world discusses initiatives for the welfare of humanity […]
WANI, Sulawesi Island, Indonesia (AFP) — A passenger ferry was washed ashore into buildings in Wani, Indonesia’s Central Sulawesi, after an earthquake and tsunami hit the area. Residents are complaining from the lack of help from the government. https://youtu.be/NMD63PRchMM
by Harry Pearl / with Patrick Lee in Sigi and Kiki Siregar in Jakarta Agence France Presse WANI, Indonesia (AFP) — The death toll in Indonesia’s twin quake-tsunami disaster passed 1,400 Wednesday, with time running out to rescue survivors and the UN warning of “vast” unmet needs. National disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the number of dead had risen to 1,407 across four areas around the ravaged seaside city of Palu, and […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia’s Mount Soputan volcano on the quake-and tsunami-hit island of Sulawesi erupted Wednesday, spewing volcanic ash 4,000 metres into the air. The state disaster agency warned people to stay at least four kilometres (two and a half miles) away but said there was no need to evacuate for the time being. Images showed an eruption visible for miles around, with a cloud of ash climbing in a large vertical column […]
by Amir HAVASI Agence France Presse TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Tehran called on Tuesday for talks with Paris to resolve a “misunderstanding” after Paris accused Iran’s intelligence ministry of involvement in an alleged bomb plot targeting an exiled opposition group near the French capital. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi told AFP in an interview that Tehran rejected the French complaint “completely and forcefully”, but said the door was open to talks. “If there is […]
by Harry Pearl Agence France Presse PALU, Indonesia (AFP) — More than 1,200 people are now known to have died in the quake-tsunami that smashed into Sulawesi, Indonesia said Tuesday, as police pledged to clamp down on looting by survivors taking advantage of the chaos. There were reports of officers firing warning shots and tear gas to ward off people ransacking shops in Palu, a coastal city ravaged by a 7.5-magnitude quake and the […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A Chinese warship sailed within yards of an American destroyer — forcing it to change course — in an “unsafe and unprofessional” encounter as the US vessel was in contested waters in the South China Sea, an official said Monday. The USS Decatur guided-missile destroyer was conducting what the military calls a “freedom of navigation operation” Sunday, when it passed within 12 nautical miles of Gaven and Johnson reefs in […]
by Harry Pearl Agence France Presse PALU, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesian volunteers began burying bodies in a mass grave with space for more than a thousand people on Monday, victims of a quake-tsunami that devastated swathes of Sulawesi and left authorities struggling to deal with the sheer scale of the disaster. Indonesia is no stranger to natural calamities and Jakarta had been keen to show it could deal with a catastrophe that has killed […]
by Kay Armin Serjoie Agence France-Presse TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Monday they launched a missile strike against a “terrorist” headquarters in Syria in retaliation for an attack that killed 24 people in the Iranian city of Ahvaz. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had vowed a “crushing” response to last month’s assault — claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group — on a military parade commemorating the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war. “The headquarters of those […]
