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by Catherine Marciano Agence France Presse VATICAN CITY (AFP) — The Catholic Church’s Pope Francis has declined to comment on a claim that he ignored sexual abuse allegations against a senior clergyman amid speculation conservative elements in the Catholic hierarchy are using the issue to mount a “putsch” to remove the liberal pontiff. Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, a former Vatican envoy to the United States, on Saturday said he had told Francis of the […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — France’s Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot, one of the most popular members of President Emmanuel Macron’s government, announced his resignation on Tuesday. “I am taking the decision to leave the government,” he said on France Inter radio, adding that he felt “all alone” on environmental issues within the cabinet. © Agence France-Presse
by Miwa Suzuki Agence France Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The abdication of Japan’s Emperor Akihito next year will be quite literally the end of an era, the Heisei era of his rule, and behind closed doors, talks on the next era have begun. Japan is the only country in the world still using Chinese-style imperial calendars. It might be 2018 in much of the world, but in Japan it is Heisei 30, or 30 […]
by Jerome Cartillier with Robyn Beck in Phoenix Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Donald Trump bowed to pressure Monday to honor the late John McCain, ordering that flags be lowered to half-staff across the country, as the late senator fired a parting shot at the president in a farewell message to the United States. Trump’s about-face came after he found himself mired in controversy over his rather conspicuous failure to pay tribute […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — North Korea still poses a “serious and imminent threat”, Japan said Tuesday in its first annual defence review since an outbreak of diplomacy on the Korean peninsula. Japan’s 2018 defence white paper also took aim at China’s rise as a military power, saying Beijing was sparking “strong security concerns in the region and international community, including Japan”. Last year’s defence review was published at the height of the tensions with North […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP)–More than 3,000 tourists were evacuated Monday from the island where the Statue of Liberty stands, after propane cylinders caught fire at a construction site near the iconic landmark, officials said. Liberty Island, which welcomes thousands of visitors a day during the busy summer season, was evacuated for more than two hours, before the fire department announced at around 2pm (1800 GMT) that the blaze was under control. Jerry Willis, a […]
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — International judges will hear closing arguments Tuesday in the case against former Congolese warlord Bosco Ntaganda, accused of war crimes including using child soldiers and sex slaves in his rebel army. Once known as “The Terminator”, Ntaganda faces 13 counts of war crimes and five counts of crimes against humanity for his role in a brutal civil conflict in the DR Congo’s volatile east more than 15 years ago. The […]
TUXTLA GUTIERREZ, Mexico (AFP) — Mexican President-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called Monday for a three-way trade deal with the United States and Canada, saying a two-way agreement reached with the US was just a first step. “It’s important that Canada also be included,” said the leftist president-elect after the US and Mexico announced a bilateral deal to update the 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). “We’re very interested in it remaining a three-country […]
by Carlos Mandujano Agence France-Presse LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Nearly 100 migrants on Monday took up an offer by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to fly them home from Lima, citing xenophobia against Venezuelans and difficulties in getting work. The move is part of the socialist government’s “Return to the Homeland” scheme to counter a mass exodus and woo back young Venezuelans to work in the crisis-torn country. Ninety-seven migrants — including 22 children and four […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — US cardinals defended themselves Monday against accusations of a Catholic Church cover-up on sex abuse detailed by a conservative bishop who has called on Pope Francis to resign. Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, a progressive, expressed “shock, sadness and consternation” at the wide-ranging allegations, which he said “cannot be understood as contributing to the healing of survivors of sexual abuse.” “Together with Pope Francis, we are confident that scrutiny […]
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — Renewed sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran aim to damage Tehran’s economy “as severely as possible”, the UN’s top court heard Monday. “The United States is publicly propagating a policy intending to damage as severely as possible Iran’s economy and Iranian nationals and companies,” Iran’s lawyer Mohsen Mohebi told the International Court of Justice in The Hague. Washington has slapped renewed sanctions on Tehran. It said they aimed […]
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — A legal battle between Iran and the United States over renewed sanctions imposed on Tehran opened Monday, with the Islamic state’s lawyers due to argue the measures are hurting Iran’s economy. The hearings commenced shortly after 0800 GMT at the International Court of Justice in The Hague and are scheduled to run for four days. © Agence France-Presse
