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by Sebastian Smith Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump on Wednesday named his pointman for hostage situations, Robert O’Brien, to replace his hawkish national security advisor sacked just as relations with Iran are entering a new crisis point. Trump made the announcement by Twitter and later appeared with O’Brien in front of reporters while traveling in California, where he said his new foreign policy aide was “highly respected.” […]
by Anuj Chopra with Sarah Stewart in Dubai Agence France Presse RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denounced strikes on Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure as an “act of war”, as Riyadh unveiled new evidence it said showed the assault was “unquestionably” sponsored by arch-foe Iran. The comments raise the risk of a wider conflict in the tinderbox Gulf region after the weekend strikes on the heart of the kingdom’s […]
by Kyoko HASEGAWA Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A Japanese court on Thursday acquitted three former power company executives of professional negligence in the only criminal prosecution stemming from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdown. The three men were senior officials at the TEPCO firm operating the Fukushima Daiichi plant and faced up to five years in prison if convicted. “All defendants are not guilty,” the presiding judge announced to the Tokyo courtroom, […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China will auction 10,000 tonnes of reserve pork this week, the commerce ministry said, in a bid to control the fallout from an outbreak of African swine fever that has sent prices soaring and hit supplies of the meat ahead of a key holiday. Beijing has been struggling to control the disease, which has ripped through its massive pig-farming industry, leading to the culling of more than a million of the […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States hopes that the UN Security Council takes up the attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure for which Washington blames Iran, a senior US official said Tuesday. The official said that Saudi Arabia, as the target of the weekend blasts, needed to take the lead in seeking action by the Security Council but that the United States first needed to prepare information for release. “We do see a […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China will auction 10,000 tonnes of reserve pork this week, the commerce ministry said, in a bid to control the fallout from an outbreak of African swine fever that has sent prices soaring and hit supplies of the meat ahead of a key holiday. Beijing has been struggling to control the disease, which has ripped through its massive pig-farming industry, leading to the culling of more than a million of the animals. […]
TEL AVIV, Israel (AFP) — Benny Gantz, the main challenger to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the country’s general election, called for a broad unity government early Wednesday as exit surveys showed a tight race. “We will act to form a broad unity government that will express the will of the people,” Gantz told supporters at a post-election rally in Tel Aviv. He however cautioned that he was waiting for final results. “We will […]
DAKAR, Senegal (AFP) — Four people died after a boat carrying dozens of tourists capsized during heavy storms in Senegal, authorities and emergency services said Tuesday. The death toll could rise as three passengers were said to be missing after the accident. The boat was carrying several Senegalese nationals, six French people, two Germans, two Swedes and one person from Guinea-Bissau, when it turned over Monday in driving rain and a heavy swell, fire department […]
by Sebastian Smith WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was to fly to Saudi Arabia Tuesday to discuss possible retaliation after Washington said it had proof that attacks on Saudi oil installations originated in Iran. Vice President Mike Pence announced that Pompeo was on his way to Saudi Arabia to “discuss our response.” “As the president said, we don’t want war with anybody but the United States is prepared,” Pence […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — The death toll from torrential rains and floods in southeastern Spain rose to seven on Tuesday after the discovery of the body of a missing 66-year-old Dutch national, local officials said. The alarm was raised on Sunday after a man was sucked into flood water in a canal at Dolores, a town 40 kilometers (25 miles) southeast of Alicante. The body, matching a description by the Dutchman’s family, was recovered in […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Disgraced Cardinal George Pell lodged an appeal against his child sex abuse convictions in Australia’s High Court on Tuesday, an official in Canberra said. It is the final avenue of appeal for the 78-year-old — who is serving a six-year sentence for sexually assaulting two choirboys in the 1990s — to get out of jail and clear his name. The former Vatican treasurer who once helped elect popes, last month […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea on Tuesday reported its first cases of African swine fever, becoming the latest country hit by the disease that has killed pigs from China to North Korea, pushing up pork prices worldwide. Five pigs found dead at a farm in Paju, a city near the inter-Korean border, were confirmed to have been infected with the virus, an official with Seoul’s agriculture ministry told AFP. “At this point, it’s […]
