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by Joe Dyke and Adel Zaanoun Agence France Presse GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories (AFP) — Fresh protests were expected Tuesday a day after Israeli forces killed 59 Palestinians during clashes and protests along the Gaza border against the US embassy opening in Jerusalem in the conflict’s bloodiest day in years. Palestinians on Tuesday mark the Nakba, or “catastrophe,” commemorating the more than 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled in the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Satellite photos indicate North Korea has begun dismantling its nuclear test site ahead of a historic summit between leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump, a US monitor said Tuesday. In a move welcomed by Washington and Seoul, North Korea said at the weekend it will “completely” destroy the Punggye-ri test site, in a ceremony scheduled between May 23-25 in front of invited foreign media. Punggye-ri, in the northeast […]
by Sarah Benhaida Agence France Presse BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — An alliance spearheaded by nationalist cleric Moqtada Sadr looked on the course Monday for a surprise triumph at Iraq’s first nationwide election since the defeat of the Islamic State group. In a further political upset, the rival Conquest Alliance of pro-Iranian former fighters appeared to be coming in second, squeezing internationally favored prime minister Haider al-Abadi into third. The outcome throws open the race to […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s first domestically manufactured aircraft carrier started sea trials Sunday, state media said, a landmark in Beijing’s ambitious plans to modernize its navy as the Asian giant presses its claims in disputed regional waters. The carrier, known only as “Type 001A”, set out for the trials from a port in northeastern China at around 6.45 am (2245 GMT Saturday), according to state broadcaster CCTV. Expected to be commissioned by 2020, […]
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — At least 70 people have been killed and over 100 injured after a fresh wave of violent sandstorms and thunderstorms battered India, officials said Monday. Winds of over 100 kilometers (62 miles) per hour struck parts of the north, east and southern India late Sunday, uprooting trees, electricity pylons, and damaging houses, officials from federal and state disaster management agencies said. Forty people were killed by hail and thunderstorms that […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea will never completely give up its nuclear weapons, a top defector said ahead of leader Kim Jong Un’s landmark summit with US President Donald Trump next month. The current whirlwind of diplomacy and negotiations will not end with “a sincere and complete disarmament” but with “a reduced North Korean nuclear threat,” said Thae Yong-ho, who fled his post as the North’s deputy ambassador to Britain in August 2016. […]
by Issam Ahmed © Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump said Sunday he was working with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to prevent telecom giant ZTE from going out of business after it was hit by an American technology sales ban. Writing on Twitter, Trump said he had issued instructions for officials to come up with a rescue plan, saying too many jobs were at risk. “President Xi of […]
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP)–At least two people were killed and 13 others injured in bomb attacks, including a suicide blast, targeting churches in Indonesia’s second biggest city Surabaya, police said Sunday. “There have been three attacks at three churches,” East Java Police spokesman Frans Barung Mangera said. The deadly blasts all occurred within 10 minutes of each other, police said, with the first explosion at 7.30 am (0030 GMT).
by Francesco Fontemaggi / Dave Clark © Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States promised Friday that it would work to rebuild North Korea’s sanctions-crippled economy if Kim Jong Un’s regime agrees to surrender its nuclear arsenal. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s vow came as senior US officials expressed growing optimism ahead of the landmark June 12 summit between Kim and President Donald Trump. Pompeo, who held talks Pyongyang’s young leader over […]
by Hui Min Neo © Agence France-Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — A decade since the devastating earthquake in China’s Sichuan province that left more than 87,000 people dead or missing, activist artist Ai Weiwei concedes that Beijing will never provide a full reckoning of the disaster. “We will never get a straight answer. Since the communist government was set up, the truth behind all major historical events has never been officially revealed,” the conceptual artist told […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China marked the 10th anniversary Saturday of a massive earthquake that killed tens of thousands in southwest Sichuan province and left scars on the nation that have yet to fully heal. More than 87,000 were left dead or missing when a 7.9-magnitude quake struck Sichuan on the afternoon of May 12, 2008, including 5,335 school pupils. The disaster provoked widespread grief in China, but also outrage after it emerged 7,000 […]
by Sam Reeves © Agence France-Presse KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysia’s scandal-ridden former leader Najib Razak was hit with a travel ban Saturday as speculation mounted he was about to flee the country following his shock election loss, in a possible bid to avoid prosecution over a massive financial scandal. An angry crowd had gathered at a Kuala Lumpur airport, shouting at vehicles and seeking to stop them entering, after Najib tweeted that he was […]
