MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Regional authorities in northern Spain said Sunday they were battling around 50 fires, some of which were deliberately set. By end of Sunday, 48 fires were still active, a statement from the government of the Cantabria region said. “During the day we counted 50 fires, and 760 people from different administrations working to put them out,” the statement added. Since the first fires broke out on Thursday in the mountainous region, […]
International
Iran’s Zarif says Israel ‘looking for war’
MUNICH, Germany (AFP) — Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said Sunday that Israel was “looking for war”, in an apparent reference to recent strikes against Iranian targets in Syria. “Certainly some people are looking for war,” Zarif said during a question and answer session at the Munich Security Conference, adding “Israel” when pressed to say who. Israel carried out a series of air strikes last month against what it said were facilities belonging to […]
In Syria, IS in quiet last stand to defend dying ‘caliphate’
by Maya Gebeily with Rouba El Husseini at the Omar oil field Agence France Presse BAGHOUZ, Syria (AFP) — Diehard jihadists have blocked roads out of the last scrap of their Islamic State group “caliphate” in Syria, US-backed forces fighting them said Sunday, preventing hundreds of civilians from fleeing. US President Donald Trump called on his European allies to take back alleged jihadists captured in Syria, prompting Belgium to call for a “European solution” to […]
Saudi prince starts Asia tour with deals to invest $20 bn in Pakistan
by Amélie HERENSTEIN Agence France Presse ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AFP) — Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed a raft of investment deals Sunday worth up to $20 billion for the cash-strapped South Asian country, as Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman launched his Asia tour seeking to emerge from the Khashoggi affair. Pakistan is facing a serious balance of payments crisis and hopes the deals — seven separate agreements and Memorandums of Understanding — will provide welcome […]
France probes sexual assault claim against Vatican envoy
French prosecutors said Friday they were investigating a sexual assault complaint made against the Vatican’s envoy to Paris in more unwelcome news for the Catholic church as it looks to turn the page on years of scandal. The Catholic Church’s Pope Francis has vowed that the church will no longer ignore abuse allegations, and he removed two prominent cardinals from his inner circle late last year after they were tainted by paedophile scandals. The […]
Trump hails China’s use of death penalty for drug dealers
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump on Friday praised China’s use of capital punishment for drug dealers, suggesting that the United States would deal better with narcotics trafficking if it put offenders to death. In China, drug dealers get “a thing called the death penalty. Our criminal drug dealer gets a thing called ‘how about a fine?’” Trump told reporters at the White House. “So if we want to get smart, […]
Vatican defrocks former US cardinal for sex abuse of minor
By Agence France Presse VATICAN CITY (AFP) — The Catholic Church’s Pope Francis has defrocked a former cardinal in a first for the church over accusations American Theodore McCarrick sexually abused a teenager 50 years ago, a Vatican statement said Saturday. McCarrick, 88, who resigned from the Vatican’s College of Cardinals in July, is the first cardinal ever to be defrocked for sex abuse. He was found guilty in January by a Vatican court […]
Logistical problems force Nigeria election delay
by Phil HAZLEWOOD / Ola AWONIYI Agence France Presse ABUJA, Nigeria (AFP) — Nigeria’s electoral watchdog on Saturday postponed presidential and parliamentary elections for one week, just hours before polls were due to open. The two main political parties swiftly condemned the move and accused each other of orchestrating the delay as a way of manipulating the vote. Voting had been due to start at nearly 120,000 polling stations in Africa’s most populous nation at […]
Trump’s border wall ’emergency’ faces tough legal hurdles
by Paul HANDLEY Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump’s declaration of an emergency Friday to build a border wall immediately drew legal challenges that could easily escalate into a landmark test of the balance of power between the White House and Congress. Legal experts said it was “unprecedented” for a president to use his emergency powers to overcome Congress’s refusal to fund his wishes, in this case a barrier on […]
Gunman kills five in mass shooting at US manufacturing facility
by Nova SAFO Agence France Presse CHICAGO, United States (AFP) — Five people were killed and multiple police officers shot Friday when a gunman opened fire in an industrial area on the outskirts of Chicago, the latest mass shooting to hit the United States. The shooting took place at approximately 1:28 pm (1928 GMT), at a giant manufacturing complex in Aurora, Illinois — a small suburb 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of central Chicago. Police […]
Moviegoers in Hawaii relate to EBC Films’ “Guerrero”
By Alfred Acenas EBC Hawaii Bureau HONOLULU, HI (Eagle News) – Eagle Broadcasting Corporation’s first full-length movie “Guerrero” held its Hawaii premiere at the iconic Dole Cannery Theaters in Honolulu on Sunday, February 10, 2019. Hundreds gathered at the lobby to purchase tickets for the film, take photos in front of the giant movie poster and sign their names on that very poster. Passers-by there to watch other movies expressed curiosity about the film while some wished they […]
Vatican envoy to France under investigation for sexual assault, according to AFP judicial source
PARIS, France (AFP) — The Vatican’s envoy to France is being investigated for sexual assault after he was accused of molesting a official at the Paris mayor’s office during a ceremony last month, a judicial source told AFP. The envoy, 74-year-old Luigi Ventura, has been based in Paris since 2009 and serves as a diplomat for Catholic Church’s Pope Francis. He was accused of molesting a man at the Paris townhall on January 17 […]
