International

War kills over 100,000 babies a year: Save the Children

MUNICH, Germany (AFP) — At least 100,000 babies die every year because of armed conflict and its impact, from hunger to denial of aid, Save the Children International said on Friday. In the 10 worst-hit countries, a conservative estimate of 550,000 infants died as a result of fighting between 2013 and 2017. They succumbed to war and its effects, among them hunger, damage to hospitals and infrastructure, a lack of access to health care and […]

DFA: Five Filipino sailors missing off Falkland Islands

(Eagle News)—Several Filipinos who are crewmen of a Taiwanese vessel that caught fire off the Falkland Islands have been reported missing. In a report to the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Philippine Embassy in London said the five Filipinos have been missing since Monday. The DFA said embassy officials were “closely coordinating with relevant authorities and the manning agency of the Filipino seafarers..” It said it was also “ready to provide assistance.” The Taiwanese vessel […]

37 killed in Indian Kashmir attack

by Parvaiz BUKHARI Agence France Presse SRINAGAR, India (AFP) — At least 37 Indian paramilitary soldiers were killed on Thursday in Indian-administered Kashmir in one the deadliest attacks on government forces there, police said. The suicide bombing outside Srinagar claimed by an Islamist group is likely to ratchet up tensions between nuclear-armed arch rivals India and Pakistan, with New Delhi long accusing Islamabad of supporting militants. “The sacrifices of our brave security personnel shall not […]

Canadian woman jailed for attack in name of IS group

OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — A Canadian woman found guilty of terror crimes for trying to join the Islamic State group and in its name attacking staff at a department store was sentenced Thursday to seven years in prison. Rehab Dughmosh, 34, was arrested in June 2017 and later convicted of leaving the country for the purpose of joining a terror group, and assaults with a golf club and a butcher knife, and carrying an archery […]

Trump to declare ’emergency’ to fund border wall

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump will sign a spending bill averting a government shutdown but will also issue an emergency declaration to fund his controversial border wall, the White House and lawmakers said Thursday. Top Senate Republican Mitch McConnell told colleagues that he spoke by phone with Trump, who “indicated he’s prepared to sign the bill. He will also be issuing a national emergency declaration at the same time.” The White […]

Hong Kong port slips from global top five for first time

  HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong’s port, which once vied with rival Singapore for global dominance, has slipped out of the world’s top five busiest shipping container terminals for the first time, new data has revealed. The bustling southern Chinese financial hub owes its very existence to its ideal location as a port, a cornerstone of the remarkable growth of a city’s whose name means “Fragrant Harbour”. It has been among the world’s […]

23 feared dead in flood at disused Zimbabwe gold mine

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP) — At least 23 illegal gold miners were feared dead in Zimbabwe on Thursday after water flooded two disused shafts in a mining town 145 kilometres (90 miles) south-west of the capital Harare. Rescuers were trying to use pumps to extract water in the search for survivors and bodies at the site near the town of Kadoma. “We heard from their colleagues that at least 23 people are trapped in the mine […]

Australia admits ‘failing’ to improve Aboriginal lives

  SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — More than a decade after vowing to “close the gap” between indigenous Australians and the rest of the country, the government on Thursday admitted it was still falling far short. Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that only two of seven government targets to improve the wealth, health and wellbeing of the first Australians were being met. Efforts to improve early education and rates of high school qualifications were on track, […]

Robot lifts bits of melted fuel at Japan’s Fukushima plant

  TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A robot arm has successfully picked up pebble-sized pieces of radioactive fuel at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant in a complex operation seen as key to clean-up efforts after the 2011 meltdown, officials said Thursday. Operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) on Wednesday sent down a remote-controlled probe to the melted fuel at the bottom of the plant’s reactor 2, one of three that melted down after a massive earthquake and tsunami […]

Argentines protest in push for ‘food emergency’ declaration

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AFP) — Thousands took to the streets in 50 Argentine cities and towns Wednesday demanding that the government declare a “food emergency” and put an end to suffocating price increases. “We are losing work, food, education, housing… it’s desperation that is emerging among our people,” said Osvaldo Ulacio, 60, as he marched in the capital Buenos Aires. “They have left us no other tool than to come out in the streets to […]

FBI releases drawings by US serial killer to identify victims

by Chris Lefkow Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The FBI has released 16 chilling portraits drawn by a man who may be the most prolific serial killer in US history in an attempt to identify some of his victims. Samuel Little, a 78-year-old drifter, has confessed to 90 murders committed between 1970 and 2005 and law enforcement authorities have corroborated more than 40 of them so far. Little, a 6ft 3in (1.9m) […]

Venezuela’s Guaido announces new board for US-based oil subsidiary

CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido on Wednesday announced that the National Assembly legislature is appointing a new board of directors for Citgo, the US-based subsidiary of the Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA. “The new board of directors will be made up of qualified Venezuelans, who are free of corruption and without any partisan affiliation,” the opposition leader, who has been recognized as interim president by more than 50 countries, said on […]