International

Drought-stricken Aussie farmers now battered by floods

TOWNSVILLE, Australia (AFP) — Australian ranchers who struggled to keep their cattle alive during a prolonged drought last year are now battling to save herds from record-breaking floods inundating the northeast of the country, officials said on Wednesday. Australia’s military has been called in to drop fodder to cattle stranded by floodwaters in Queensland state to stop them from starving, Agriculture Minister David Littleproud said, with their owners still marooned in their farmsteads. “This is […]

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Venezuela’s military blocks humanitarian aid shipment

by Maria Isabel SANCHEZ Agence France Presse CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuelan military officers blocked a bridge on the border with Colombia ahead of an anticipated humanitarian aid shipment Tuesday, as opposition leader Juan Guaido stepped up his challenge to President Nicolas Maduro’s authority. The opposition-dominated National Assembly had earlier warned the armed forces, which make up much of Maduro’s power base, not to cross a “red line” by blocking aid. Guaido, who proclaimed himself […]

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Trump urges unity in State of the Union speech

  by Sebastian Smith Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump urged Americans to come together Tuesday in a State of the Union speech seeking to turn the page on two years of divisive turmoil and transform him into a bipartisan national leader. “We must reject the politics of revenge, resistance, and retribution — and embrace the boundless potential of cooperation, compromise, and the common good,” Trump told Congress and a […]

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Worst over’: Australia begins flood clean-up

TOWNSVILLE, Australia (AFP) — Weary residents in Australia’s flood-hit northeast returned home Wednesday to begin a massive clean-up after almost two weeks of heavy rain, as the wild weather moved south to inundate more towns. Communities remain cut off and thousands are still without power in the state of Queensland, but the weather bureau said the downpours that have seen areas doused with more than 300 millimeters (11.8 inches) of rain daily were easing. “It […]

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Trump says talks with Taliban ‘constructive’

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that talks with Afghanistan’s Taliban were making headway as he voiced cautious hope for a negotiated end to America’s longest war. “My administration is holding constructive talks with a number of Afghan groups, including the Taliban,” Trump said in his annual State of the Union address to Congress, weighing “a possible political solution to this long and bloody conflict.” © Agence France-Presse

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Trump says to meet N. Korea’s Kim February 27-28 in Vietnam

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he would hold his long-awaited second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un on February 27 and 28 in Vietnam. “If I had not been elected president of the United States, we would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea,” Trump said in his annual State of the Union address to Congress. © Agence France-Presse

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‘I will get it built,’ Trump tells Congress of border wall

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump vowed Tuesday to get his disputed border wall built despite Democratic opposition, even as he urged Congress to “work together” and forge a deal on border security. “I’ll get it built,” Trump said in his State of the Union speech. “Simply put, walls work and walls save lives. So let’s work together, compromise, and reach a deal that will truly make America safe,” he said, just 10 […]

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China ‘theft’ of US jobs and wealth must ‘come to an end’: Trump

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday told Congress that Washington’s aggressive trade negotiations with Beijing would mean an end to China’s alleged “theft” of US jobs and wealth. In his annual State of the Union address, Trump also called on China to make the kind of far-reaching “structural” changes to industrial policy that analysts say Beijing is likely to resist. The world’s two largest economies have 24 days left in a three-month truce […]

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New migrant caravan reaches US-Mexico border

NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico (AFP) — Around 1,700 migrants traveling by caravan reached the US-Mexican border Tuesday, just as President Donald Trump prepared to give a major speech certain to include calls for his long-sought wall. The Central American migrants, mostly Hondurans, arrived in the city of Piedras Negras, Coahuila, across the border from Eagle Pass, Texas. The local mayor, Claudio Bres Garza, said the city would welcome “all those who behave themselves,” after Coahuila’s Governor […]

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Trump slams ‘ridiculous partisan’ probes in State of Union

Donald Trump took a swipe Tuesday at the ongoing probe of the president’s possible connections to Russia, saying during his State of the Union address that “ridiculous partisan investigations” could slow down America’s economic growth. “An economic miracle is taking place in the United States, and the only thing that can stop it are foolish wars, politics, or ridiculous partisan investigations,” Trump said during his speech. “If there is going to be peace and legislation, […]

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Trump calls for ‘compromise’ in State of Union speech

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump used his State of the Union address on Tuesday to call for a new era of cooperation to break “decades” of political gridlock and unlock America’s promise. “We can make our communities safer, our families stronger, our culture richer, our faith deeper, and our middle class bigger and more prosperous than ever before,” Trump said. “But we must reject the politics of revenge, resistance, and retribution — […]

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Trump to urge unity in State of the Union speech

by Sebastian Smith Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump was to appeal for unity among Americans in a State of the Union speech Tuesday where he sought to turn the page on two years of divisive turmoil and recast himself as a bipartisan national leader. “The agenda I will lay out this evening is not a Republican Agenda or a Democrat Agenda. It is the agenda of the American People,” […]

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