International

At least 19 dead in unprecedented Iran floods

by Kay Armin Serjoie TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Major floods across much of Iran have left 19 people dead and more than 90 injured, blocking roads and triggering landslides with warnings of more heavy rain to come, emergency services said Monday. Such a widespread flood threat is unprecedented in arid Iran, which until 2018 was dealing with decades of drought. Seventeen people were killed and 94 injured in the southern city of Shiraz, one person […]

Macron, Xi call for increased EU-China cooperation

PARIS, China (AFP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron on Monday called for increased cooperation between the European Union and China, at a time of growing nervousness over Beijing’s massive investments on the continent. Speaking at the Elysee Palace following talks with Xi, Macron called for a “strong Europe-China partnership”, adding that this must be based on “strong multilateralism” and “fair and balanced” trade. Xi’s, for his part, stressed that […]

British MPs vote for bigger role in Brexit process

by James PHEBY LONDON, United States (AFP) — British MPs voted on Monday to play a bigger role in Brexit, giving themselves the power to express their preference for different options in an unprecedented move that the government called “dangerous”. MPs won a vote that will allow them to seize control of parliamentary business on Wednesday by 329 to 302, with three junior ministers quitting after voting against the government. Foreign Office minister Alistair Burt […]

Netanyahu at side, Trump proclaims Golan Heights belongs to Israel

by Shaun TAND WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his side, US President Donald Trump declared Monday that the Golan Heights belongs to Israel — handing another major diplomatic victory to the premier ahead of tight elections. Netanyahu spared no praise as he watched Trump sign the Golan proclamation at the White House, likening him to President Harry S Truman, who recognized Israel, and even to Cyrus the Great, the […]

Malian leader vows security as massacre toll hits 160

OGASSOGOU, Mali (AFP) — Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita vowed Monday to beef up security as he visited a village where more some 160 people were killed by suspected militiamen from a rival ethnic group. “We need security here — this is your mission,” Keita said, giving a public order to military chief General Aboulaye Coulibaly, who was abruptly appointed on Sunday after the massacre. “Justice will be done,” he vowed. The deadly raid took […]

Parkland, Sandy Hook suicides put focus on mental health, grief

by Leila MACOR MIAMI, United States (AFP) — The community of Parkland was grieving Monday after a second student took their life a little over a year following the shooting at the Florida town’s high school that left 17 people dead. As Parkland was mourning, the authorities said the father of a child killed in the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, had apparently committed suicide. Jeremy Richman, 49, lost his […]

New blackout hits swaths of Venezuela including Caracas

by Marc BURLEIGH / Guillaume DECAMME CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — A new blackout hit many regions in Venezuela including much of Caracas on Monday, sowing alarm two weeks after a nationwide outage that paralyzed the country. The power cut in the capital occurred at 1:28 pm (1720 GMT) and knocked out electricity in the city center. Cellphone signals were also disrupted and television was blanked out. Shops hastily lowered shutters, fearing looters. A Venezuelan newspaper […]

Israel strikes Gaza after rare missile hits house

by Sakher Abou El Oun GAZA CITY, Palestinian City (AFP) — Israeli air strikes hit sites across the Gaza Strip on Monday in retaliation for a rare rocket attack that hit a house near Tel Aviv, before Hamas said a ceasefire was reached. Hamas, the Islamist movement that runs the Gaza Strip, said Egypt had brokered the ceasefire following the escalation that came just two weeks before Israel’s April 9 elections. Israel, whose strikes began […]

Canada grants asylum to woman who sheltered Snowden in Hong Kong

OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Canada has granted asylum to a woman who helped Edward Snowden hide in Hong Kong after his leaks exposed US global surveillance programs, a refugee rights association said Monday. Vanessa Rodel and her 7-year-old daughter Keana were scheduled to arrive in Toronto later Monday on a flight from Hong Kong, the non-profit organization For the Refugees said. Rodel was among a group of people who sheltered Snowden, a former CIA employee […]

Maduro’s government calls new Venezuela blackout an ‘attack’

CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — President Nicolas Maduro’s government said Monday that a new blackout across much of the country was an “attack” against the electricity system, adding that work was being carried out to bring back power. Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez said on state television that the attack targeted the country’s principal hydroelectric plant, Guri, as in the last, nationwide blackout that hit Venezuela earlier this month. © Agence France-Presse

Man charged with attempted murder over Canada priest attack

  MONTREAL, Canada (AFP) — A man who allegedly stabbed a priest in front of his congregation live on television during mass at Canada’s biggest church was charged Saturday with attempted murder and assault with a weapon. Vlad Cristian Eremia, 26, appeared briefly by video link in a Montreal court on Saturday afternoon, sporting a beard and wearing a checked shirt. He will remain in custody, with his next hearing on Monday. The suspect is […]

The last days of the IS ‘caliphate’

  by Tony Gamal-Gabriel Agence France Presse BAGHOUZ, Syria (AFP) — Suicide bombers, snipers, rockets — Islamic State group fighters did everything they could to defend their last scrap of territory in eastern Syria, but their diminished resources were not enough. The US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces on Saturday declared victory over the jihadists in the remote village of Baghouz, after reducing their once terrifying proto-state to a ghostly riverside camp. From the top of an […]