International

Indonesia’s Mt. Sinabung spews massive smoke-and-ash column

  JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — An Indonesian volcano erupted Tuesday, sending a massive column of ash and smoke 2,000 metres (6,500 feet) into the air, coating local villages in debris. Mount Sinabung on Sumatra island — which has been rumbling since 2010 and saw a deadly eruption in 2016 — spewed the thick plume after activity picked up recent days. Disaster agency officials said the eruption has the “potential” to affect flights, but it had […]

Beijing slams US warship sail-by in South China Sea

  BEIJING, China (AFP) — China said two US warships sailed near disputed islands in the South China Sea without permission on Monday in the latest US challenge to Beijing’s territorial claims in the region. The Chinese navy asked the US vessels to leave after they entered waters adjacent to Gaven and Chigua reefs in the Spratly Islands, which Beijing calls Nansha, the foreign ministry said. The move comes on top of trade tensions as […]

Trump awards Presidential Medal of Freedom to Tiger Woods

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – Tiger Woods, fresh off his epic comeback victory in the Masters, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday. Presenting the golfing great with the nation’s highest honor, Trump praised Woods’ “relentless will to win, win, win.” “These qualities embody the American spirit of pushing boundaries, defying limits and always striving for greatness,” the president said. Trump congratulated Woods on “your […]

Mexican president’s new airport flies into turbulence

by Sofia MISELEM / Sylvain ESTIBAL Agence France-Presse MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) – For a groundbreaking ceremony, there was suspiciously little ground broken as President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador symbolically inaugurated work on a new Mexico City airport — a pet project analysts warn could go badly wrong. Smiling and waving an orange flag, the anti-establishment leftist stood before a line of heavy construction equipment last Monday, declaring work was officially under way to turn […]

Backers ‘failed to follow through’ in abortive uprising, Guaido tells AFP

by Guillaume DECAMME / Alexander MARTINEZ Agence France-Presse CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) – Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido said Monday that backers who had pledged support for his abortive uprising last week had “failed to follow through” to dislodge President Nicolas Maduro. But that “doesn’t mean that they won’t do it soon,” Guaido told AFP in an interview in Caracas. Guaido, recognized as interim president by more than 50 countries, said it was “obvious today, there […]

Ex-Goldman banker pleads not guilty on 1MDB charges in US court

NEW YORK, United States (AFP) – A former Goldman Sachs banker pleaded not guilty Monday in New York to bribery and other charges in the multi-billion-dollar 1MDB scandal after being extradited from Malaysia. Malaysian Ng Chong Hwa, 51, a former managing director at the bank charged in both Malaysia and America over the 1MDB fraud, was extradited to the US on Friday, Malaysian attorney-general Tommy Thomas said. Also known as Roger Ng, the defendant was […]

Trump’s approval hits highest rating ever in Gallup poll

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump is enjoying the strongest polling of his presidency following the release of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report and positive economic news, according to public opinion poll agency Gallup. Trump’s job approval rating crept up one point to 46 percent for the two-week period ending April 30, a substantial rise from the 39 percent approval he recorded in early March. “In addition to the initial interpretation […]

Prince Harry overjoyed as Meghan gives birth to a boy

by Joe JACKSON Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has given birth to a boy, her “over the moon” husband Prince Harry revealed to the world on Monday in a low-key announcement intended to protect their privacy. Prince Harry said that both mother and baby were “doing incredibly well” as he gave a short statement to British television news outlets, without either in sight, in front of Windsor […]

7.2 quake hits Papua New Guinea, no early damage reports

  PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea (AFP) — A powerful 7.2-magnitude earthquake rocked Papua New Guinea on Tuesday at a depth of 127 kilometers (80 miles), officials said, although there were no immediate reports of damage. The quake struck 33 kilometers (21 miles) from the town of Bulolo at 2119 GMT according to the US Geological Survey, and was felt in the capital Port Moresby about 250 kilometres away. Because of the depth of the […]

The Pakistani popcorn seller who built his own plane

by Kaneez FATIMA TABUR, Pakistan (AFP) — The engine is from a roadcutter, the wings are burlap, the wheels are borrowed from a rickshaw: a popcorn seller has caught the attention of the Pakistan Air Force by building his own plane. The tale of Muhammad Fayyaz has captured the hearts of many in a nation where millions, just like him, have limited access to education and are fighting for opportunities. “I was literally in the […]

Panama’s Cortizo declares victory in presidential vote

PANAMA CITY, Panama (AFP) — Former Panamanian minister Laurentino Cortizo declared victory in presidential polls on Sunday that saw a large number of voters turn out amid concerns over corruption scandals and the country’s image as a money-launderer’s paradise. But Panama’s Electoral Tribunal has yet to announce an official result due to the narrow difference in tallies between contenders for the country’s top office. “I feel very happy. I won. We won. What we have […]

Cyclone Fani death toll rises to 42 in India, Bangladesh

NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — The death toll from a cyclone that battered India and Bangladesh rose to 42 on Sunday as emergency teams raced to fix water supplies and roads devastated by the storm. Twenty-nine of the dead were in eastern India’s Odisha state and 13 in Bangladesh, officials in the two countries said — a fraction of the casualty numbers seen in past cyclones. Cyclone Fani barrelled into Odisha on Friday, packing winds […]