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KOCHI, India (AFP) — “Rat fever” and other diseases have killed 14 people in the southern Indian state of Kerala after the worst floods in almost a century, authorities said Tuesday. The separate death toll from the monsoon floods that forced more than a million people from their homes in Kerala last month has meanwhile risen to 486, the government said. “We had anticipated leptospirosis (rat fever) due to contaminated water and are taking all […]
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil’s National Museum, ravaged Sunday by a massive fire, is Latin America’s largest natural history and anthropology museum, with more than 20 million artefacts and 530,000 titles. Marking its 200-year anniversary in June, it was founded in 1818 by Portuguese King Joao VI and has been installed since 1892 in a former royal palace. It sits in the Quinta da Boa Vista public park in the north of Rio […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The strongest typhoon to hit Japan in 25 years made landfall Tuesday, the country’s weather agency said, bringing violent winds and heavy rainfall that prompted evacuation warnings. Packing winds of up to 216 kilometres (135 miles) an hour, Typhoon Jebi made landfall in western Japan as the strongest storm since 1993, the weather agency’s chief forecaster Ryuta Kurora told AFP. © Agence France-Presse
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump on Monday warned Syria against launching an attack on the country’s last rebel stronghold with the help of Russia and Iran, saying the offensive could trigger a “human tragedy.” The warning came as Iran’s foreign minister Mohammad Javed Zarif met with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in a surprise visit to Damascus ahead of the looming offensive. Syrian forces are amassing around the northwestern province of Idlib, […]
KHOKHA, Yemen (AFP)–The Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen killed 38 rebels in the past 24 hours in air strikes on the strategic port of Hodeida, military and medical sources said on Monday. The latest raids come just days before peace talks in Geneva between the internationally recognised government backed by the coalition and the Shiite Huthi rebels linked to Iran. Pro-government military sources told AFP the coalition targeted Huthi sites, including a roundabout in the […]
by Richard SARGENT / Hla-Hla HTAY Agence France-Presse YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) – Two Reuters journalists accused of breaching Myanmar’s state secrets law while reporting on a massacre of Rohingya Muslims were jailed for seven years Monday, fuelling international outrage a week after the army was accused of genocide. Wa Lone, 32, and Kyaw Soe Oo, 28, who have been held in Yangon’s Insein prison since their arrest in December, were charged with violating the Official […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged Monday to provide $60 billion in financing for Africa’s development over the next three years at a summit with leaders from the continent. The financing will include $15 billion in “free assistance and interest-free loans”, he said, in remarks meant to ease growing concerns that China’s assistance to developing nations is miring them in debt. © Agence France-Presse
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A typhoon that forecasters warned could be the strongest to hit Japan in 25 years barrelled directly towards the western part of the country Monday, sparking warnings of violent winds and prompting rail operators to scrap services. Typhoon Jebi is expected to make landfall around midday Tuesday near areas still recovering from deadly record rains last month. If it maintains its current strength of 216 kilometres (135 miles) per hour, Jebi would be the first “very […]
by W.G. Dunlop Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US military plans to cancel $300 million in aid to Pakistan due to Islamabad’s lack of “decisive actions” in support of American strategy in the region, the Pentagon said Saturday. The US has been pushing Pakistan to crack down on militant safe havens in the country, and announced a freeze on aid at the beginning of the year that an official said […]
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made a surprise visit to ally Syria on Monday for talks on the looming offensive against the country’s last major rebel stronghold, his ministry said. Zarif left early on Monday and “is at the moment in talks with Syrian officials,” spokesman Bahram Ghasemi told reporters in Tehran. The visit comes as Syrian government forces mass around the last rebel bastion in the northwestern province of […]
by Ben Dooley Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — President Xi Jinping told African counterparts and business leaders Monday that China’s investments on the continent have “no political strings attached,” even as Beijing is increasingly criticized over its debt-heavy projects abroad. Xi spoke before the start of a two-day China-Africa summit that is expected to focus on his cherished Belt and Road initiative, a global trade infrastructure program. The massive scheme is aimed at […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s defense chief on Monday warned the country faces a tough security environment, with China and Russia stepping up military activity and North Korea posing “imminent threats”. Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said China had been “unilaterally escalating” its military activities in the past year, including carrying out new airborne operations around Japan and running a nuclear submarine near disputed East Coast isles. “China has been rapidly improving its military strength and […]
