International

Toppled Malaysian leader’s 1MDB trial delayed

Former Malaysian premier Najib Razak’s trial over a massive financial scandal that contributed to his government’s downfall was postponed Monday, in a blow to slow-moving efforts to bring the disgraced politician to justice. Najib had been due to go on trial Tuesday for the first time over allegations linked to his involvement in the looting of Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB in a fraud that reverberated around the world. Billions of dollars were allegedly stolen […]

Venezuela opposition prepares protest, presses for aid to be let in

Venezuela’s opposition plans more marches Tuesday to press the military to let in US humanitarian aid, which President Nicolas Maduro says is the stepping stone to an invasion. Opposition leader and self declared president Juan Guaido will lead a rally in eastern Caracas but demonstrations have been called all over the country. They are to mark Youth Day but also to honor 40 people killed in anti-government rallies in January, many of them youths. “We […]

Australia cattle giant warns of ‘extreme losses’ from floods

Australia’s largest cattle company has warned of “extreme losses” after record-breaking floods, as producers said more than 300,000 cows were drowned or washed away in the vast continent’s northeast. After more than five years of drought, heavy rains over an almost two-week period turned dusty and parched land in Queensland state into vast swathes of mud that bogged down already weakened cattle. Australian Agricultural Company Ltd (AACo) said Monday that four of its properties were […]

Refugee footballer makes triumphant return to Australia

Refugee footballer Hakeem al-Araibi made a triumphant return to Australia Tuesday, ending a two month ordeal that saw him jailed in Thailand and threatened with forced return to his native Bahrain. A throng of well wishers decked in #SAVEHAKEEM T-shirts cheered and sang the football anthem “You’ll Never Walk Alone” as they greeted the 25-year-old defender at Melbourne Airport, after an overnight flight to freedom aboard Thai Airways flight 465. “I want to thank Australia” […]

US lawmakers announce tentative deal on wall, shutdown

US lawmakers announced late Monday an agreement in principle to avoid another government shutdown, with nearly $1.4 billion in money for construction of a wall on the border with Mexico, as President Donald Trump pushed his politically explosive crusade at a rally in the frontier city of El Paso. That amount is far less than Trump has demanded. But if accepted, the deal would avert another chaotic standoff in which Trump has threatened to cut […]

UN chief willing to broker end to Venezuela crisis

UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres renewed his offer Monday to help broker an end to the crisis in Venezuela during talks with the country’s foreign minister. Guterres met with Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza in New York, at the request of Caracas, as the standoff between President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido hardened. The United Nations has called for serious political negotiations between the two sides to prevent […]

At least nine dead in India hotel fire: official

NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — At least nine people were killed and three others injured when a fire engulfed a hotel in New Delhi on Tuesday, a senior official said. The blaze broke out before dawn at Hotel Arpit Palace in a congested part of central Delhi. “Nine people are dead including a woman and a child. Three people are injured,” G.C. Misra, the director of Delhi Fire Services, told AFP. © Agence France-Presse

Light rail collision in Paris suburb injures 12

NANTERRE, France (AFP) — A rare light rail collision in a southwestern suburb of Paris on Monday evening left 12 people injured, one of them seriously, the fire brigade said. It was not known what caused the accident which took place between two stations in Issy-les-Moulineaux just after 9:00 pm (2000 GMT), a spokesman for Paris transport operator RATP told AFP. “Two vehicles collided with passengers on board. It appears that the one in front […]

No word from Haiti’s president as fear paralyzes capital

by Amelie BARON Agence France Presse PORT-AU-PRINCE, Sporadic gunfire echoed through the streets of Port-au-Prince on Monday as the government remained silent in the face of protests that have paralyzed the Haitian capital and triggered rising violence. The normally traffic-clogged streets were largely empty as schools, shops and municipal offices were shuttered for fear of more violence that has already left several people dead and an air of uncertainty hanging over the government of President […]

New Zealand wildfire expected to burn for weeks

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — A large New Zealand wildfire is expected to burn for weeks longer but has moved away from some inhabited areas, allowing residents of an evacuated village to return home soon, firefighters said Monday. About 3,000 inhabitants of Wakefield, just outside Nelson at the top of South Island, were ordered out Saturday as flames razed bushland within two kilometers (1.2 miles) of their homes. The fire erupted early last week amid […]

Trump to make ‘big’ border speech in El Paso

by Paul Ratje with Sebastian Smith in Washington Agence France Presse EL PASO, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump takes his politically explosive push for walling off the Mexican border to the frontier city of El Paso on Monday, four days before a deadline for Congress to meet his demands. Trump’s campaign-style rally in El Paso will give the president the kind of populist platform he will seek to build on ahead of his […]

Four dead after military helicopter crashes in Istanbul

ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — Four soldiers were killed on Monday after a Turkish military helicopter crashed in a residential area of Istanbul, the province’s governor said. “Unfortunately four of our soldiers became martyrs,” Istanbul governor Ali Yerlikaya told reporters at the scene. Yerlikaya said no other military personnel or civilian had been injured after the helicopter ploughed to the ground in the Cekmekoy district. The incident happened around 1851 (1551 GMT), he said in televised […]