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SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Bushfires flared in southern Australia on Thursday as a heatwave expected to bring renewed misery set in, and officials warned some areas are “just at the beginning” of the devastating crisis. Soldiers went door-to-door advising residents to leave the South Australian town of Parndana on Kangaroo Island after a large blaze bore down on the area, with temperatures there soaring to 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit). In neighboring Victoria state, […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Defense Secretary Mark Esper said Wednesday that the United States has reestablished some deterrence toward Iran in the wake of the January 3 drone strike that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad. “I think at this point with the strikes we took against KH in late December and then our actions with regard to Soleimani, I believe that we’ve restored a level of deterrence with them,” he told […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — A magnitude 4.5 earthquake on Wednesday rattled an area less than 50 kilometers (30 miles) from Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant near the country’s Gulf coast, a US monitor said. The quake, which had a depth of 10 kilometers, struck 17 kilometers south-southeast of Borazjan city at 6:49 am (0319 GMT), the US Geological Survey said on its website. State news agency IRNA said the earthquake was felt in Bushehr. There […]
by Sebastian Smith, with Maya Gebeily in Baghdad and Marc Jourdier in Tehran WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump pulled back from the brink of war with Iran on Wednesday, saying that Tehran appeared to be “standing down” after firing missiles — without causing casualties — at US troops based in Iraq. In a televised address to the nation from the White House, Trump emphasized there were “no Americans harmed” in the ballistic […]
by Holly ROBERTSON Agence France Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australian officials issued fresh evacuation warnings Wednesday ahead of a forecast spike in the intensity of out-of-control bushfires that have devastated vast swathes of countryside and sent smoke clouds as far away as Brazil. Residents of Victoria state’s fire-ravaged east were urged to leave before another heatwave raises the bushfire danger Friday, while in South Australia state authorities began relocating people from a small […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — A growing number of airlines said Wednesday they were avoiding Iranian and Iraqi airspace for flights to the region after Tehran fired ballistic missiles against bases housing US troops in Iraq. “As a precautionary measure and following news of air strikes underway, Air France has decided to suspend until further notice all flights through Iranian and Iraqi airspace,” an Air France spokesman told AFP. Iran launched a series of missiles at […]
OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Wednesday that Canada would demand a thorough investigation after scores of its citizens died when a Ukrainian jetliner crashed in Iran. The Iranian community in Canada was plunged into mourning following the accident shortly after the plane took off from Tehran on Wednesday, killing all on board. “I join Canadians across the country who are shocked and saddened to see reports that a plane crash outside […]
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — Two rockets crashed late Wednesday into the Iraqi capital’s Green Zone, the high-security enclave where foreign embassies including the US mission are based, security sources told AFP. Just before midnight, AFP correspondents in Baghdad heard two loud blasts followed by the wailing security sirens of the Green Zone. The attack came nearly 24 hours after Tehran launched ballistic missiles at Iraqi bases housing American and other coalition forces, which did not […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The Democratic-led US House of Representatives will vote Thursday to prevent President Donald Trump from waging war with Iran after he ordered the killing of a top general, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. Pelosi said that the Democrats will move forward because their concerns were not addressed in a closed-door briefing to lawmakers Wednesday by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and other top officials. “The president has made clear that he […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — Clear international rules govern investigations into air crashes, but in the case of Wednesday’s Ukrainian passenger jet disaster in Iran they could fall victim to heightened tensions between Tehran and Washington. The Ukraine International Airlines Boeing 737-800 crashed less than three minutes after taking off from Tehran’s airport, killing 176 people, mostly Iranians and Canadians. Tehran has already indicated it will not hand over to Americans the recovered flight recorders, the […]
by Richard CARTER Agence France Presse Private jets, bullet trains and boxes with holes for breathing: Carlos Ghosn’s escape from Japan, where he was awaiting trial, is worthy of a Hollywood plot. A millionaire many times over, used to hob-nobbing with the Davos set, Ghosn chafed at what he felt were the tight restrictions imposed as a condition of his bail ahead of an expectedly lengthy trial for financial misconduct. As 2019 drew to […]
Tony Gamal-Gabriel Agence France Presse BEIRUT, Lebanon–Fugitive auto tycoon Carlos Ghosn on Wednesday accused Nissan and Japanese prosecutors of plotting against him, vowing to prove his innocence at his first public appearance since fleeing the country. The former Renault-Nissan boss described the financial misconduct charges he faced in Japan as “baseless” as he addressed a large crowd of journalists in Beirut. “The collusion between Nissan and prosecutors is everywhere,” Ghosn said, claiming his arrest in […]
