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by Jerome TAYLOR The Muslim call to prayer rang out across New Zealand on Friday followed by two minutes of nationwide silence to mark a week since a white supremacist gunned down 50 people at two mosques in the city of Christchurch. As the call was broadcast around the country, thousands — including Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and wounded survivors — stood in a park opposite the mosque where the killing began, as the nation […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — A car rammed into a crowd in central China Friday, killing six people and injuring seven others, and the driver was fatally shot by police, state broadcaster CCTV reported. The injured were taken to hospital following the early morning incident in Zaoyang City in Hubei Province, CCTV said. A video, published by Shanghai-based news outlet The Paper, shows a body covered in a blanket left on the roadside and a group […]
Dire conditions persist in vast areas of southern Africa affected by Cyclone Idai as heavy rain continues to cause “massive destruction”, the UN said on Thursday, while aid teams scale up efforts to reach those most in need. Warning that the situation is likely to deteriorate, the World Food Programme (WFP) said that people are still stranded on rooftops after the storm began its sweep through Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe six days ago. In Mozambique […]
by Alice RITCHIE / Laurence BENHAMOU European leaders and Prime Minister Theresa May agreed Thursday on a short delay to Britain’s divorce from the European Union in the hope of ensuring an orderly Brexit. Britain had faced a sharp cliff-edge deadline of March 29 to leave, but May’s EU colleagues said the split could wait until May 22 if British lawmakers approve a withdrawal accord next week. But if the House of Commons rejects the […]
by Peter STEBBINGS The death toll from a huge explosion at a chemical plant in eastern China surged to 47 on Friday, making it one of the country’s worst industrial accidents in recent years. More than 600 people are receiving medical treatment following Thursday afternoon’s blast at the industrial park in Yancheng, said the city government on its official Twitter-like Weibo account. Among them, at least 90 are seriously injured. City officials had previously said […]
YANCHENG, China (AFP) — The death toll from a huge explosion at a chemical plant in eastern China rose to 12 on Friday after rescuers pulled dozens of people from the area, state media said. The blaze “has been controlled” by firefighters hours after Thursday’s blast left an industrial park burning into the night in Yancheng in Jiangsu province, according to broadcaster CCTV. As of the early hours of Friday, a total of 88 people […]
Chicago, United States (AFP) — The Catholic Church has failed to disclose more than 200 names of clergy accused of abuse in the US state of Illinois, a law firm claimed Wednesday. The firm Jeff Anderson & Associates has previously released names of accused clergy in other parts of the country based on information it compiled from public sources such as lawsuits. Its latest report outlined 395 Catholic clergy and laypersons in Illinois who […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States on Thursday imposed sanctions on two Chinese shipping companies for doing business with North Korea, vowing to keep strictly enforcing sanctions on Pyongyang even amid top-level diplomacy. “The maritime industry must do more to stop North Korea’s illicit shipping practices,” national security adviser John Bolton tweeted after the Treasury Department’s announcement. “Everyone should take notice and review their own activities to ensure they are not involved in […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US state of West Virginia on Tuesday sued a Catholic diocese and a bishop over allegations they knowingly employed pedophiles in schools. State attorney general Patrick Morrisey announced he had filed suit against the diocese of Wheeling/Charleston — located over 250 miles (400 kilometers) west of Washington — and against its former bishop Michael Bransfield. Bransfield was himself dismissed in September following allegations of sexual harassment against adults. […]
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — French President Emmanuel Macron will hold trade and climate talks on Tuesday with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and German Chancellor Angela Merkel. The leaders will be joined by European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker as they seek “points of convergence between Europe and China”, Macron’s office said Thursday. The meeting is part of Xi’s European tour, which comes with Europe divided over his “Belt and Road” trade infrastructure project and under […]
by Raad Al-Jammas with Ammar Karim in Baghdad MOSUL, Iraq (AFP) — Almost 100 people, mostly women and children, died Thursday as a ferry packed with families celebrating Kurdish New Year sank in a swollen river in the former jihadist stronghold of Mosul, in Iraq’s worst accident in years. There was an outpouring of grief among residents who only this year resumed the annual festivities on the banks of the Tigris after the northern city’s […]
by Adrien BARBIER and Joaquim NHAMIRRE BEIRA, Mozambique (AFP) — The death toll from a cyclone that ravaged three southern African countries last week headed Thursday towards 400, as officials estimated that more than 1.7 million people had been affected by the storm and 15,000 people were still stranded in floodwater. As the toll surged from the region’s biggest storm in years, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced plans to tackle an emerging threat to […]
