International

China’s Xi to meet top US trade officials: report

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping plans to meet with top US officials in Beijing this week, a report said Wednesday, as the world’s two biggest economies rush to patch up their trade differences before a looming deadline. Xi will meet on Friday with officials including US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who are in the capital for crunch talks towards a trade deal, the South China Morning Post […]

Israel warns Iran that its missiles can travel ‘very far’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran Tuesday that Israeli missiles can travel “very far”, on the eve of a conference in Poland about peace and security in the Middle East. Speaking during a visit to a naval base in the northern port of Haifa, Netanyahu said: “The missiles you see behind me can go very far, against any enemy, including Iran’s proxies in our region” — an apparent reference to Lebanon’s powerful Hezbollah movement. “We […]

Pressure grows in Austria for paternity leave for all

by Philippe SCHWAB Austria’s leaders are coming under increasing pressure to grant statutory paternity leave to all fathers, despite fierce resistance in business circles. Austria has allowed fathers to take an unpaid month off following the birth of their children — the so-called “Papamonat” or “daddy’s month” — since 2017, but at the employer’s discretion. During the four weeks, the new dads receive 700 euros ($790) in social security payments — a right the country’s […]

Nearly 80 detainees escape Haiti prison: police

At least six people have died in nearly weeklong protests demanding that President Jovenel Moise resign in Haiti, which saw fresh tensions and a major prison break Tuesday. All 78 detainees at the prison in Aquin, a city of around 100,000 on the south coast of the country’s Tiburon Peninsula, escaped around midday, a national police spokesman said. The exact circumstances of the prison break are unclear, but witnesses said it took place during an anti-Moise […]

Filipinos in Haiti advised to take extra precautions as protests continue

(Eagle News)–The Philippine Embassy in the United States has advised Filipinos in Haiti to take extra precautions as anti-government protests reached the fifth day. “We advise our kababayans in Haiti to stay indoors and prepare their personal security plans. If they must venture outdoors, they should avoid demonstrations and any large gatherings of people,” Philippine Ambassador Jose Manuel G. Romualdez said. According to Fitzgerald Brandt, consul general in Haiti, the around 500 Filipinos in the Caribbean […]

Facing cronyism and no work, young Haitians protest or flee

by Amelie BARON Agence France Presse PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) — Whether using social media to fight corruption or marching in protests that have brought the country to a halt, the anger of Haiti’s youth at their lack of prospects is boiling over in increasingly dramatic ways. Marco Beausejour, a graduate who struggles to make ends meet driving a motorbike-taxi, said that embattled President Jovenel Moise “launched clean-up programs which he said would create 50,000 jobs.” […]

Samsung reaches settlement over ‘exploding’ washing machines

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Samsung Electronics has reached a settlement in a class-action lawsuit over 2.8 million “exploding” washing machines recalled in the US, the South Korean company said Tuesday. The faulty appliances were recalled in 2016 after reports that the top “can unexpectedly detach from the washing machine chassis during use, posing a risk of injury from impact”, according to The US Consumer Product Safety Commission. The lawsuit claimed some of the washers […]

Trump not ‘happy’ with border deal but shutdown unlikely

by Sebastian Smith and Michael Mathes Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump indicated Tuesday he will climb down over his threat to shut the government even if he doesn’t get all the money he has demanded for building walls along the US-Mexican border. Although Trump left enough wiggle room to keep the country guessing, he appeared to be edging toward accepting a deal struck in Congress that would give him […]

Venezuela’s Guaido vows to bring in aid next week

by Maria Isabel SANCHEZ Agence France Presse CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido told tens of thousands of supporters on Tuesday that desperately-needed humanitarian aid would be brought into the country on February 23, despite opposition from President Nicolas Maduro. “It’s sure that the humanitarian aid will enter Venezuela because the usurper will have no choice but to leave Venezuela,” said self-proclaimed acting president Guaido. US aid has been piling up in […]

11 injured in ‘governor convoy attack’ in Cameroon

DOUALA, Cameroon (AFP) — At least 11 people have been wounded in an attack on the convoy of the governor of the English-speaking region of southwestern Cameroon, sources said Tuesday. Armed men attacked the convoy of South West governor Bernard Okalia Bilai, who was traveling with a military escort from the regional capital Buea to Kumba, about 70 kilometers (45 miles) north. “There were eleven wounded. Several were seriously injured by bullets,” said a member […]

Mexican drug lord ‘El Chapo’ convicted by NY jury

by Laura BONILLA CAL Agence France Presse NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Mexican mobster Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was convicted Tuesday of crimes spanning a quarter-century in a trial that laid bare his lavish lifestyle and penchant for extreme violence as head of one of the world’s most powerful gangs. The 61-year-old former boss of the notorious Sinaloa cartel — famed for his brazen escapes from Mexican prisons — faces life in prison for […]

Acting Pentagon chief makes surprise Baghdad visit

by Sylvie Lanteaume Agence France-Presse BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — Acting Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan arrived in Baghdad on an unannounced visit Tuesday for talks on the sensitive issue of a continued troop presence following withdrawal from neighboring Syria. Shanahan is keen to reassure Iraqi leaders after President Donald Trump angered many by saying he wanted to keep troops at the Al-Asad airbase, northwest of Baghdad, to keep an eye on Iran. The acting defence secretary, […]