International

At least six dead, 75 hurt in China quake

BEIJING, China (AFP) — A strong 6.0-magnitude earthquake struck China’s southwestern Sichuan province on Monday, leaving at least six people dead and 75 others hurt, officials and state media said. Rescuers were rushing to affected areas in heavy rain near the epicenter, which was located outside the city of Yibin, the Xinhua news agency reported. The quake occurred at about 10:55 pm (1455 GMT) at a depth of 16 kilometers (10 miles), according to the […]

US deploys 1,000 more troops to Middle East amid Iran tensions

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States said Monday it has approved the deployment of 1,000 additional troops to the Middle East, against the backdrop of soaring tensions with Iran. Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said in a statement the troops were being sent “for defensive purposes to address air, naval, and ground-based threats in the Middle East.” “The United States does not seek conflict with Iran,” the statement said, adding that the deployment […]

Police kill gunman who opened fire on US courthouse

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A man armed with an automatic rifle opened fire on a Dallas federal courthouse on Monday before being killed by police in the southern US city, law enforcement officials said. Police identified the shooter as 22-year-old Brian Clyde, who caused no deaths or injuries when he began firing at the courthouse entrance from a sidewalk. In images captured by a photographer at the scene, Clyde is pictured wearing a military […]

Beijing says it will ‘firmly support’ Hong Kong leader Lam

  BEIJING, China (AFP) — Beijing reiterated its backing of Hong Kong’s embattled leader Carrie Lam on Monday after a massive demonstration demanding her resignation over a controversial extradition bill. Protest organisers said some 2 million people choked Hong Kong’s streets on Sunday — despite Lam’s decision to indefinitely suspend passage of the bill a day earlier. Critics fear the Beijing-backed law will entangle people in China’s notoriously opaque and politicised courts and damage the […]

Huawei founder says to cut output by $30-billion in 2019-20

The founder of Huawei said the Chinese telecom giant would slash production over the next two years as it grapples with a US push to isolate the company internationally. “In the coming two years, the company will cut production by $30 billion,” Ren Zhengfei said during a panel discussion at corporate headquarters in Shenzhen. © Agence France-Presse

Venezuela bus accident kills 18

CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — At least 18 people were killed Sunday in a bus accident in a rural area of western Venezuela, police said. “Fourteen deaths were reported at the scene of the accident, 33 injured were transferred to the hospital in Villa del Rosario, where four of them died,” police said in a report seen by AFP. The accident occurred in a rural area of Zulia state which borders Colombia. According to a preliminary […]

Joshua Wong: Poster child of Hong Kong’s ‘Umbrella Movement’

by Jerome TAYLOR HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Joshua Wong was the unlikely hero who helped lead a movement that inspired hundreds of thousands of Hong Kongers to take over the city’s streets for two months in 2014 calling for fully free elections. Scrawny, with gaunt features and a studious frown, the then 17-year-old spearheaded the mass “Umbrella Movement” protests, which were a reaction to restrictions from Beijing on how Hong Kong’s next leader would […]

Ten killed in Paraguay prison riot: interior ministry

ASUNCION, Paraguay(AFP) —  A riot at a prison in Paraguay left 10 inmates dead and 10 wounded, the interior ministry said Sunday. Interior minister Juan Villamayor said that there was a “confrontation” between “two feared criminal organizations” at the prison in San Pedro de Ycuamandiyu, some 400 kilometers (248 miles) northeast of the capital. “All of the dead belong to the narco groups,” Villamayor said. One of the organizations involved is originally from the Brazilian […]

Pompeo vows US will guarantee passage through Strait of Hormuz

by Jim MANNION WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vowed Sunday that the US will guarantee free passage through the vital Strait of Hormuz, as he accused Iran of recent attacks on oil tankers and the downing of a US drone. Pompeo confirmed in an interview with CBS that a US MQ-9 “Reaper” drone was shot down June 6 with a missile fired from Yemen “that we assess had Iranian assistance.” […]

Hong Kong leader apologizes as rally chokes city

by Jerome TAYLOR / Yan ZHAO HONG KONG, China (AFP) — About two million protesters choked Hong Kong’s streets in a powerful rebuke of a reviled extradition law, organizers said Sunday, piling pressure on the city’s embattled pro-Beijing leader who apologized for causing “conflict” but refused to step down. The show of force saw vast crowds marching for hours in tropical heat, calling for the resignation of chief executive Carrie Lam, who was forced to […]

Severe heat kills dozens in India’s Bihar state

PATNA, India (AFP) — Severe heat has left dozens dead over a 24-hour period in India’s Bihar state, as the country enters a third week of searing temperatures, officials said Sunday. The deaths occurred in three districts of the poor northern state, where temperatures have hovered around 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit) in recent days, senior health official Vijay Kumar told AFP. Forty-nine people died in three districts of the Magadh region that has been […]

WHO says DRC Ebola outbreak not a ‘global’ emergency

By Ben Simon Agence France-Presse GENEVA, SWITZERLAND —  (AFP) The World Health Organization said Friday that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo does not qualify as an international threat, despite the spread of the virus to neighbouring Uganda carried by an infected family. The closely-watched decision followed advice from WHO’s emergency committee, which only meets to review the world’s most severe outbreaks. The head of the UN health agency Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is in […]