International

Record $27.5 million settlement in NY Catholic child sex abuse case

  NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — The Catholic church in New York has reached a record $27.5 million settlement with four men who said they were sexually abused as children, attorneys said Tuesday. The Diocese of Brooklyn, one of the city’s boroughs, agreed to make the payments to the four, who were sexually abused between 2003 and 2009 by their religion teacher, their lawyers said. The sum breaks down to $6.87 million for each […]

Strawberry sabotage akin to ‘terrorism’: Australia PM

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — The tainting of supermarket strawberries with sewing needles is comparable to “terrorism”, Australia’s prime minister said Wednesday, as he demanded tougher sentencing in response to a nationwide scare. Urging Australians to make a strawberry pavlova this weekend to help struggling farmers, Scott Morrison demanded a change in the law to put the perpetrators behind bars for 15 years. “We’re not mucking about” said Morrison, after at least 20 pieces of fruit […]

North Korea to close missile test site: Moon

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea will close its Tongchang-ri missile testing site, the South’s President Moon Jae-in said Wednesday after a summit with Kim Jong Un in Pyongyang. “The North agreed to permanently close the Tongchang-ri missile engine test site and missile launch facility in the presence of experts from relevant nations,” Moon told reporters. © Agence France-Presse

Merkel removes spy chief to defuse row over far-right

by Frank ZELLER and Michelle FITZPATRICK in Frankfurt Agence France Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Angela Merkel’s government on Tuesday removed domestic spy chief Hans-Georg Maassen from office, transferring him to a different post to end an explosive row over immigration and the far right that once more rocked the German chancellor’s fragile coalition. “Mr Maassen will become state secretary in the interior ministry,” Merkel and the leaders of her coalition parties announced in a […]

Pompeo to lead UN meeting on N. Korea

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will chair a meeting of the UN Security Council on North Korea September 27 to urge the international community to keep up the pressure on Pyongyang. The meeting of top diplomats will take place on the sidelines of the United Nations Annual General Assembly. “Secretary Pompeo intends to chair a UNSC ministerial on North Korea on Thursday September the 27th,” State Department spokeswoman Heather […]

Qatar Airways files $69 million loss amid Gulf crisis

DOHA, Qatar (AFP) — Qatar Airways on Tuesday posted a net loss of over $69 million in the year to March 2018, blaming the “illegal blockade” against Doha by a Saudi-led bloc of countries. The tiny Gulf emirate’s national airline said the period had been “the most challenging year in its 20-year history”. Saudi Arabia and its allies broke off diplomatic relations with gas-rich Qatar on June 5, 2017. They closed all land, sea and […]

Of course I don’t think about leaving’: Mattis

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis dismissed Tuesday a fresh round of rumors suggesting his days at the Pentagon might be numbered due to deteriorating relations with President Donald Trump. The buttoned-up former Marine general is loathe to discuss politics or his dynamic with his mercurial boss, but a new book by veteran political reporter Bob Woodward has thrust the two mens’ relationship into the spotlight. Among other claims, Woodward said […]

S. Korean leader and North’s Kim hold summit talks

by Park Chan-kyong Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea’s president and the North’s leader Kim Jong Un drove together through the streets of Pyongyang on Tuesday past thousands of cheering citizens before opening a summit where Moon Jae-in will seek to reboot stalled denuclearisation talks between his hosts and the United States. Kim and Moon embraced at Pyongyang’s international airport — where the North Korean leader had supervised missile launches last […]

Trump accuses China of election meddling in trade war

by Sebastian Smith Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused China of seeking to influence knife-edge midterm congressional elections by taking aim at his political base in the economic giants’ rapidly escalating trade war. The allegation raised the temperature in the escalating dispute after Trump pulled the trigger late Monday on 10 percent tariffs against another $200 billion in Chinese goods from next week, with a threat […]

US McDonald’s staff walk out over sexual harassment

by Nova SAFO Agence France Presse CHICAGO, United States (AFP) — McDonald’s workers in 10 US cities staged a one-day strike Tuesday inspired by the #MeToo movement, accusing the fast food giant of failing to address pervasive sexual harassment at its restaurants. Organizers said the strike was the first of its kind and aimed at getting the company to start taking serious action to curb incidents including groping, lewd comments and propositions for sex in […]

EU targets BMW, Daimler, VW in pollution cartel probe

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — The EU opened an in-depth probe into alleged collusion by major German carmakers over anti-pollution technology Tuesday, a fresh blow to the scandal-hit industry three years after the notorious “dieselgate.” Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager said BMW, Daimler and VW are suspected of agreeing “not to compete against each other on the development and roll-out” of anti-pollution systems for petrol and diesel passenger cars. © Agence France-Presse

100 die in severe flooding in Nigeria: relief agency

  LOKOJA, Nigeria (AFP) — Nigeria has declared a national disaster after severe flooding left about 100 people dead across 10 states, the country’s main relief agency said on Tuesday. Heavy seasonal rains have caused the Niger and Benue rivers to burst their banks, inundating communities, farms and trapping tens of thousands of people in their homes. Sani Datti, from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), told AFP: “We have declared a national disaster in […]