International

10,000 ‘red scarf’ protesters march against ‘yellow vest’ violence

by Marc PRÉEL and Katy LEE Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — More than 10,000 people wearing red scarves marched through Paris on Sunday in protest at “yellow vest” violence during the anti-government demos that have drawn tens of thousands of people to the streets over the past 11 weeks. Since mid-November President Emmanuel Macron has offered concessions and debates seeking to quell the weekly rallies that often end in violent clashes with police […]

Brazil mine disaster death toll jumps to 58: official

BRUMADINHO, Brazil (AFP) — The number of people killed by the collapse of a dam at a Brazilian mining complex rose to 58, with those still missing rising to 305, civil defense officials said Sunday. After search operations, “the number has increased to 305 people missing and 58 dead,” Minas Gerais state civil defense spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Flavio Godinho told reporters. He said rescuers had found a bus filled with human bodies. © Agence France-Presse

Maduro rejects call for elections amid mounting pressure

by Maria Isabel SANCHEZ Agence France Presse CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday rejected a European ultimatum that he call elections as opposition rival Juan Guaido stepped up appeals to the military to turn against the leftist government. The United States, meanwhile, warned there would be a “significant response” if US diplomats, Guaido, or the opposition-controlled National Assembly were targeted with violence and intimidation. The shot across the bows came after […]

Brazil puts $3 billion freeze on Vale assets after dam disaster

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazilian judicial authorities have frozen $3 billion in assets of the Vale mining company after a dam collapse at one of its sites left at least 37 dead and more than 250 missing. The public prosecutor’s office of the state of Minas Gerais announced late Saturday that it had frozen a total of 11 billion reales — about $3 billion — in Vale assets. The dam break Friday at the […]

US calls to ‘stand with freedom’ in Venezuela as EU gives ultimatum

by Laura BONILLA CAL / Philippe RATER Agence France Presse UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — The United States pressed all nations Saturday to “stand with the forces of freedom” in Venezuela, encouraged by a tougher European line as Russia stood in the minority in backing embattled leader Nicolas Maduro. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo made a forceful case at a special session of the United Nations Security Council, where he described Maduro as […]

Record breaking floods hit north Australia

  CAIRNS, Australia (AFP) — Communities were cut off, farmers stranded and cows washed offshore as heavy rain pelted northeast Australia Sunday, with one major river breaking 118-year-old floodwater records. The Bureau of Meteorology said Queensland’s Daintree River rose to 12.60 meters — a level not seen in over a century — and local authorities warned that some residents in remote areas could be cut off for days. The heritage listed Daintree Rainforest received more […]

Iglesia Ni Cristo members give relief goods to Safe Harbor Homeless Shelter in Red Deer, Canada

  (Eagle News) — Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church Of Christ) members recently helped the Safe Harbor Homeless Shelter in Red Deer, Canada by donating relief goods. INC members who volunteered to help during the event expressed their happiness in helping other people, and fulfilling God’s teachings to do good whenever you possibly can to those who need it. The Church Of Christ has been doing such events, like INCGiving, and INC Aid for Humanity, to […]

Catholic Church’s Pope Francis to tackle dwindling vocations to priesthood at Panama meeting

  Catholic Church’s Pope Francis will meet young student priests on Saturday on the fourth day of his visit to Panama for World Youth Day celebrations, a day after the clergy sex abuse scandal haunting his papacy returned to the spotlight. The 82-year-old Argentine pontiff had earlier acknowledged at a general audience in August that the scandals of abuse and cover-up by Church leaders has caused a decline in vocations to the priesthood in Ireland, […]

Fears rise for 300 missing in Brazil dam disaster; 9 bodies recovered

  by Pascale Trouillaud Agence France Presse BRUMADINHO, Brazil (AFP) — Rescuers worked overnight into Saturday searching for around 300 people missing after a dam collapse at a mine in southeast Brazil killed at least nine, but the local governor said “odds are minimal” that they would be found alive. Seven bodies were recovered Friday hours after the disaster, which saw a torrent of mud break through the disused dam at the iron-ore mine close […]

Trump climbs down in wall row, Congress passes bill ending shutdown

  by Sebastian Smith Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump on Friday brought a temporary end to the longest government shutdown in US history, while dropping his previous insistence on immediate funding for wall construction along the Mexican border. The announcement in the White House Rose Garden on the bipartisan deal marked a retreat by Trump, suspending a political row that has paralyzed Washington, disrupted air travel and left more […]

Remains found of explorer who put Australia on the map

  SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — The remains of the first British explorer to circumnavigate the Australian continent and popularize the country’s name have been found near a busy London railway station. Archaeologists sifting through a vast burial ground near Euston station said Friday they had found a coffin plate identifying the last resting place of Royal Navy captain Matthew Flinders. Flinders was buried on 23rd July 1814, but not before publishing “A Voyage to Terra […]

Indonesia floods, landslides death toll climbs to 59

MAKASSAR, Indonesia (AFP) — Floods and landslides in Indonesia have killed at least 59 people, the government said Friday, after heavy rain pounded Sulawesi island and forced thousands to flee their homes. “I’ve never seen something this bad — this is the worst,” Syamsibar, head of South Sulawesi’s disaster mitigation agency, told AFP, adding that 25 people were still missing. Lashed by the heavy rain, rivers swelled and burst their banks, inundating dozens of communities […]