International

Tropical Indonesia’s tiny glaciers to melt away in a decade: study

by Dessy Sagita and Peter Brieger Agence France-Presse JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia’s little-known glaciers are melting so fast they could disappear in a decade, a new study says, underscoring the imminent threat posed by climate change to ice sheets in tropical countries. As the COP 25 summit wraps up in Madrid, nations are struggling to finalise rules for the 2015 landmark Paris climate accord, which aims to limit global temperature rises. Thousands of kilometres […]

Weinstein agrees to $25 million settlement with accusers

  NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein has reached a $25 million settlement with dozens of women who accused him of sexual misconduct, one of the women’s lawyers told AFP on Wednesday. The once-powerful producer of “Pulp Fiction” and “Sin City”, whose case sparked the #MeToo movement against sex crimes, faces a criminal trial next month that could see him jailed for life. The payout from a separate civil case […]

Eight killed in blaze at Bangladesh plastics factory

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AFP) — Eight people were killed and at least 24 critically injured when a devastating fire swept through an illegal plastics factory outside the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, police said Thursday. The fire started on Wednesday afternoon and quickly ripped through the ground floor of the Prime Patent Plastic factory at Keraniganj, just southwest of Dhaka, they said. “One person burnt to death on the spot and 33 workers were critically burnt. Seven of […]

Myanmar’s Suu Kyi denies ‘genocidal intent’ in Rohingya case

  by Danny KEMP and Jan HENNOP Agence France Presse THE HAGUE Netherlands (AFP) — Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on Wednesday denied “genocidal intent” as she defended Myanmar’s military operation against Rohingya Muslims in the UN’s top court. Addressing judges in The Hague, Myanmar’s civilian leader admitted that the army may have used “disproportionate force” but said that did not prove it was trying to wipe out the minority group. The African […]

Pentagon suspends training of Saudis for security review

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The Pentagon announced Tuesday it was temporarily suspending operational training for Saudi military students in the United States following a shooting rampage last week by a Saudi air force officer. Saudi Arabian military students in the United States will continue classroom instruction but operational training is halted pending a security review, senior Defense Department officials said. Mohammed Alshamrani, a 21-year-old lieutenant in the Saudi Royal Air Force, opened fire in […]

New Zealand volcano still too dangerous to remove bodies

WHAKATANE, New Zealand (AFP) — The smoldering New Zealand volcano that killed at least six people is still too dangerous for emergency teams to recover bodies from, police said Wednesday, warning that many tourists who escaped the island were so badly burned they were not yet out of danger. The official death toll after Monday’s explosion on White Island climbed to six late Tuesday when another victim died in hospital. The bodies of eight more people […]

Three soldiers, 14 attackers dead in Niger camp assault

NIAMEY, Niger (AFP) — Three soldiers and 14 attackers died in an assault earlier this week on an army camp in western Niger near the border with Mali, the defense minister said. Heavily armed “terrorists” in a dozen 4×4 vehicles led the attack early Monday morning on the military post in the West African country’s Tahoua region, he said. “After two hours of intense fighting, the vigorous response of our defence and security forces enabled […]

Chile military plane disappears with 38 aboard: Air Force

  SANTIAGO, Chile (AFP) — A Chilean military plane with 38 people aboard has gone missing after taking off from the country’s south for a base in Antarctica and is presumed to have crashed, authorities have said. Seventeen of those on board the C-130 aircraft were crew and the others were passengers, Chile’s Air Force said Monday. The plane is considered to have crashed and “all national and international air and maritime means available in […]

Updated: Six dead in gun rampage at Czech hospital

  PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AFP) — A gunman opened fire Tuesday in a hospital in the eastern Czech city of Ostrava, killing six people, the prime minister said. “There were four dead and two injured people who unfortunately died too,” Prime Minister Andrej Babis told the public Czech Television. The gunman is still at large, police said. Police have published a picture of the alleged suspect on Twitter, showing a man with receding ginger hair […]

Toxic bushfire haze blankets eastern Australia

  by Andrew BEATTY / with Daniel de Carteret in Gosford Agence France Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Toxic haze blanketed Sydney Tuesday triggering a chorus of smoke alarms to ring across the city and forcing school children inside, as “severe” weather conditions fuelled deadly bush blazes along Australia’s east coast. Fire engines raced office-to-office in the city centre with sirens blaring, as inland bushfires poured smoke laden with toxic particles into commercial buildings. Emergency […]

Russia banned from Olympics, World Cup over alleged doping

  by Eric BERNAUDEAU Agence France Presse LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AFP) — The World Anti-Doping Agency on Monday banned Russia for four years from major global sporting events including the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, over manipulated doping data. WADA’s executive committee, meeting in Lausanne, handed Russia the four-year suspension after accusing Moscow of falsifying laboratory doping data handed over to investigators earlier this year. Not only will Russia be ruled […]

No more survivors on New Zealand island after volcano eruption

  by Neil SANDS / with Holly Robertson in Sydney Agence France Presse WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — New Zealand police have said no more survivors were expected to be rescued from an island volcano that erupted suddenly on Monday, suggesting as many as two dozen people could have died. Police said some 50 people were visiting White Island when it exploded in the early afternoon — hurling ash and rock high into the air. […]