International

World leaders set for final tribute to France’s Chirac

by Stuart WILLIAMS PARIS, France (AFP) — Dozens of world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, were expected in Paris on Monday to pay their final respects to France’s late president Jacques Chirac as the country holds a national day of mourning for its charismatic former head of state. Putin and other world leaders were to join President Emmanuel Macron for a church service in the French capital, a day after thousands of people queued […]

Strong 6.8 magnitude earthquake off Chile coast: USGS

SANTIAGO, United States (AFP) — A 6.8 magnitude earthquake struck in the Pacific off the coast of Chile on Sunday, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said. “There is a low likelihood of casualties and damage,” the USGS said of the earthquake, which it earlier reported as a magnitude 7.2, and which occurred 41 miles (66 kilometers) west-southwest of Constitucion, Chile. Chile’s National Seismological Center (CSN) put the quake at 6.6 magnitude. Despite the tremor’s […]

Five injured in fire at Saudi high-speed train station: state TV

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Five people were injured in a fire that broke out at a new high-speed train station in Saudi Arabia’s western city of Jeddah on Sunday, state television reported, with huge palls of smoke seen rising into the air. The station serves the main Haramain High-Speed Rail system. The route opened to the public in October last year, taking passengers between Mecca and Medina, Islam’s holiest sites. “Five people who sustained […]

Factory fire kills 19 in east China: official

BEIJING, China (AFP) — A factory fire has killed 19 people in east China, local authorities said Monday, in the latest deadly incident to hit the country’s industrial sector. The fire broke out on Sunday at a factory in Ninghai county, eastern Zhejiang province, said the local government on its official Twitter-like Weibo account. The incident, which is under investigation, occurred at a facility owned by the Ruiqi Daily Necessities Company. Among eight people rescued […]

Two killed in Mexico rollercoaster accident

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — Two people were killed and two more injured when a rollercoaster carriage derailed at a theme park in Mexico, authorities have said. Early reports suggest a mechanical problem caused the carriage to become detached from the ride and fall some 10 meters to the ground, the public prosecutor said in a statement. It is believed the two men died as a result of head injuries, it added, while two woman […]

Strife-torn Hong Kong braces for China anniversary day violence

by Jerome TAYLOR / Jasmine LEUNG HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Ripped-up paving stones lay scattered around the graffiti-scarred streets of Hong Kong after one of the most violent days in a summer of rage, as protesters ready for fresh clashes on Tuesday’s 70th anniversary of communist China’s founding. The protest-wracked financial hub witnessed its fiercest political violence in weeks on Sunday as riot police spent hours in running battles with protesters, the streets blanketed […]

Saudi prince says war with Iran would gut world economy

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said in an interview aired Sunday that war with Iran would devastate the global economy and he prefers a non-military solution to tensions with his regional rival. “If the world does not take a strong and firm action to deter Iran, we will see further escalations that will threaten world interests,” Prince Mohammed bin Salman told the CBS program “60 Minutes.” “Oil supplies will be […]

Taiwan shrugs as communist China hails 70th anniversary

  by Sean Chang  TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Communist China’s creation seven decades ago irrevocably changed Taiwan, but Beijing’s huge celebrations this week will be met with a collective shrug on an island where people increasingly see themselves as distinct from the mainland. After the People’s Republic of China was declared on 1 October 1949, its rival, the Republic of China, set up in Taiwan — the island Chiang Kai-shek’s defeated nationalists fled to and […]

Trump: I want to meet my accuser

  by Emma Charlton  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump said on Sunday he wants and deserves to meet the anonymous whistleblower at the center of the fast-moving scandal that has triggered an impeachment probe against him. The whistleblower, who could testify soon before Congress, fears for their safety if their identity is revealed, according to a lawyers’ letter released by CBS News. Battling the deepest crisis of his presidency, Trump in […]

Iglesia Ni Cristo holds Aid to Humanity in India, helps thousands of poor families

  (Eagle News) – The Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) held a series of Aid to Humanity activities in India which started on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019 in Andhra Pradesh. Government officials from India were among the thousands who gathered at the open field of the Andhra University in Visakhapatnam City where the INC conducted the first stop of its Aid to Humanity tour in India on Friday. The INC Aid to Humanity series […]

At least 44 killed in north India floods

NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — At least 44 people were killed and thousands moved to relief camps because of flooding caused by torrential rains in northern India’s Uttar Pradesh state, officials told AFP Saturday. Densely populated regions on the banks of two main rivers in the state, which are overflowing because of incessant rainfall in the last 24-48 hours, are among the worst hit. “We had confirmed 44 deaths till late yesterday night. The authorities […]

Russia tells US not to release Trump-Putin transcripts

  UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — Russia on Friday urged the United States not to publish Donald Trump’s conversations with Vladimir Putin after a growing scandal led the White House to release a transcript from a call with Ukraine’s leader. “As for transcripts of phone conversations, my mother when bringing me up said that reading other people’s letters is inappropriate,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters at the United Nations. “It is indecent,” […]