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by Maya Gebeily BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — Iraq’s leaders were intense talks on Wednesday over the ouster of the country’s embattled premier, as a rights commission said the latest week of anti-government demonstrations has left 100 dead. As night fell, the government faced the mounting pressure of swelling protests, pro-Iran figures defending the prime minister and deadly rockets slamming into Baghdad’s Green Zone. The missiles hit a checkpoint near the US embassy, killing one Iraqi […]
by Jocelyne ZABLIT LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Firefighters in California struggled to contain a new fast-moving blaze on Wednesday that threatened thousands of homes and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, as rare “extreme” red flag warnings were issued for much of the Los Angeles region. The so-called Easy Fire in the Simi Valley northwest of Los Angeles erupted around 6:00 am, forcing the evacuation of the library and nearby homes as it spread […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Crisis-hit Boeing faced fresh safety concerns Thursday, as the firm admitted cracks were found in up to 50 of its popular 737NG planes following worldwide inspections. Boeing had previously reported a problem with the model’s “pickle fork” — a part which helps bind the wing to the fuselage — prompting US regulators to order immediate inspections of aircraft that had seen heavy use. A company spokesperson on Thursday told AFP that […]
by Rob Lever WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Twitter said Wednesday it would stop accepting political advertising globally on its platform, responding to growing concerns over misinformation from politicians on social media. Chief executive Jack Dorsey tweeted that while internet advertising “is incredibly powerful and very effective for commercial advertisers, that power brings significant risks to politics, where it can be used to influence votes to affect the lives of millions.” The move comes with […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A major fire ripped through a historic Japanese castle on the southern island of Okinawa early on Thursday morning, spreading throughout the World Heritage site’s complex, local authorities said. Shuri Castle is a key part of a complex dating back to the Ryukyu Kingdom, and is believed to have been in use from around the 1400s. The current structure is a reconstruction based on original plans and photos of the […]
by Paulina ABRAMOVICH Agence France Presse SANTIAGO, Chile (AFP) — Chile pulled out of hosting two major international summits on Wednesday as it struggled to restore order after more than ten days of civil unrest that have left at least 20 dead. President Sebastian Pinera said “common sense” dictated the decision to withdraw from the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit and the Cop 25 climate change conference. US President Donald Trump had said he […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Beijing will use facial recognition tools to speed up security checks in the city’s overcrowded metro, using a ‘credit system’ to sort passengers into different channels, state-run media reported on Wednesday. Long queues and commuters arguing with staff over slow security procedures are common sites during rush hour in the metro system of the 20 million-strong metropolis. The city plans to install cameras that will scan the faces of passengers […]
by Paul HANDLEY Agence France Presse Washington, United States (AFP) — A decorated Iraq War veteran rocked the White House Tuesday with devastating testimony on Donald Trump’s alleged extortion of Ukraine as Democrats laid out plans for the public phase of the impeachment inquiry threatening his presidency. The Democratic-led House is investigating Trump over his bid to pressure Ukraine into digging up dirt on election rival Joe Biden — and accusations he conditioned nearly […]
by Anuj Chopra RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Top finance moguls and political leaders attended a Davos-style Saudi investment summit on Tuesday, in stark contrast to last year when outrage over critic Jamal Khashoggi’s murder sparked a mass boycott. Organisers say 300 speakers from over 30 countries, including American officials and heads of global banks and major sovereign wealth funds, are attending the three-day Future Investment Initiative (FII), nicknamed “Davos in the desert”. A […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China on Tuesday blasted as “economic bullying” a US proposal to block telecom carriers buying from Chinese tech companies Huawei and ZTE. The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) said on Monday that the proposed rules — which also require carriers to remove any existing Huawei and ZTE equipment — were part of an initiative to “safeguard the nation’s communications networks”. The two Chinese firms have been accused of posing a […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — An English tourist had his foot bitten off by a shark while another was bitten during the attack in the Whitsunday Islands near Australia’s Great Barrier Reef on Tuesday, officials said. In the latest in a string of shark attacks in the tourist area, a 28-year-old man’s right foot was bitten off while a 22-year-old man suffered serious lacerations to his lower left leg, according to Mackay Base Hospital. The […]
by Paul HANDLEY Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US officials have said the body of Islamic State group chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was buried at sea, as fresh details surfaced about the US special forces operation that led to his death over the weekend. Syrian Kurds claimed to be a key source of the intelligence that led Americans to Baghdadi after years of tracking the man behind a five-year reign of […]
