US President Donald Trump’s government on Tuesday gave up a controversial attempt to put a question about citizenship on next year’s census, handing a victory to those who argued the new item would lead to discrimination against minority residents including Filipinos living in the US. The decision followed a Supreme Court ruling that the case for adding the citizenship question was not convincing. Trump’s initial reaction to the ruling had been to call for […]
International
14 crew killed in fire on Russian sub
by Marina LAPENKOVA Agence France Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Fourteen Russian seamen have died in a fire on a deep-water research submersible, Russia’s defence ministry said Tuesday, amid local media reports that the vessel was a secretive nuclear-powered mini-submarine. Russian officials have offered little information about the vessel or the circumstances of the accident, but the presence of many senior ranking officers on board could suggest it was not on an ordinary assignment. The […]
Collapsed wall kills 22 in Mumbai monsoon chaos
by Peter HUTCHISON MUMBAI, India (AFP) — A wall collapsed and killed at least 22 people in Mumbai on Tuesday as the heaviest monsoon rains in a decade brought chaos to India’s financial capital and surrounding areas. Scores more were injured when the structure came down at nighttime in a slum, said Tanaji Kamble, a disaster management spokesman for Mumbai’s local authority. By late Tuesday one more person had succumbed to injuries, increasing the previous […]
Nearly 40 killed in strike on Libya migrant centre: emergency services
by Imed LAMLOUM TRIPOLI, Libya (AFP) –Nearly 40 migrants were killed in an air strike Tuesday night on their detention centre in a Tripoli suburb blamed on Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar, who has been trying for three months to seize the capital. At least 70 were also wounded in the raid on Tajoura, an emergency services spokesman told AFP. “This is a preliminary assessment and the toll could rise,” said spokesman Osama Ali. He said […]
Trudeau ‘confident’ that Trump backed Canada in China G20 talks
TORONTO, Canada (AFP) — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday that he was “confident” US President Donald Trump brought up Canadians held by Beijing during talks with China’s Xi Jinping. Relations deteriorated between China and Canada following the December arrest in Vancouver of Meng Wanzhou, a top official in China’s telecom giant Huawei, who is wanted by the United States for allegedly circumventing sanctions on Iran. Since then, Chinese authorities have arrested two Canadians on […]
South Americans marvel at total solar eclipse
by Paulina ABRAMOVICH LA HIGUERA, Chile (AFP) — A rare total solar eclipse plunged a vast swath of Latin America’s southern cone into darkness Tuesday, briefly turning day into night and enthralling huge crowds in much of Chile and Argentina. Hundreds of thousands of people — including large crowds congregated in La Higuera in Chile, a country that hosts some of the world’s most powerful astronomical telescopes — looked to the skies captivated by the […]
Hong Kong grapples with protest aftermath as China demands criminal probe
by Yan ZHAO / Catherine LAI Agence France Presse Hong Kong Tuesday grappled with the aftermath of a night of unprecedented anti-government protests which saw parliament ransacked, as Beijing called for a criminal probe into the unparalleled challenge to its authority. The semi-autonomous financial hub has been thrown into crisis by weeks of demonstrations over a bill that would allow extraditions to the Chinese mainland, with the issue becoming a lightning rod for resentment […]
Xi urged Trump to ease North Korea sanctions in ‘timely’ fashion
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping urged US President Donald Trump to “show flexibility” towards North Korea, including the “timely” easing of sanctions, at the G20 summit last week, China’s foreign minister said Tuesday. Xi visited North Korea prior to meeting Trump at the G20 in Japan on Saturday, and analysts had said the Chinese leader could use the trip as leverage in his trade war talks with the US leader. Trump […]
Moon hails Trump-Kim meeting as result of ‘astounding imagination’
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday hailed the third meeting between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un in the Demilitarized Zone as the result of an “astounding imagination” and thinking outside the box. All three held an impromptu encounter at the truce village of Panmunjom on Sunday when Trump became the first sitting US president to set foot in North Korea and agreed with Kim to resume working-level talks, […]
At least 15 dead as wall collapses in monsoon-hit Mumbai
MUMBAI, India (AFP) — At least 15 people were killed in India’s financial capital of Mumbai early Tuesday when a wall collapsed during torrential monsoon downpours. Another 69 were injured when the structure came down around 2am (2030 GMT Monday) in a slum settlement, Tanaji Kamble, a disaster management spokesman for Mumbai’s local authority, told AFP. The tragedy came as the teeming coastal settlement of 20 million residents was lashed by heavy rains for a […]
Nine wounded in Yemen rebel attack on Saudi airport: coalition
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — A Yemeni rebel attack on a civilian airport in southern Saudi Arabia wounded nine civilians Tuesday, a Riyadh-led coalition said, the latest in a series of strikes on the site. “The terrorist attack on Abha airport… led to the injury of nine civilians, including eight Saudi citizens and one carrying an Indian passport,” the military coalition said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency. Earlier, the Iran-aligned […]
Trump: Iran ‘playing with fire’ after nuclear deal limit breached
by W.G. Dunlop with Amir Havasi in Tehran WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump warned Monday that Iran is “playing with fire” after Tehran said it exceeded a limit on enriched uranium reserves under a 2015 nuclear deal abandoned by Washington. Israel urged European states to sanction Iran, while Russia voiced regret but said the move was a consequence of US pressure, which has pushed the deal towards collapse. Britain called on […]





