International

Iran expects measures to save nuclear deal by end of May

by Jastinder KHERA Agence France-Presse VIENNA, Austria – European countries have until the end of May to propose ways to mitigate the effects of the US withdrawal from a landmark nuclear deal between world powers and Tehran, a senior Iranian official said Friday. Tehran has threatened to restart its uranium enrichment programme at an “industrial level” if the 2015 pact falls apart. The comments came ahead of the first “joint commission” meeting in Vienna between […]

Dutch, Australia name Russia as behind MH17 downing

by Jo Biddle and Jan Hennop Agence France-Presse THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The Netherlands and Australia on Friday took the first step towards dragging Russia to court over the shooting down of flight MH17, accusing Moscow of being responsible for the disaster over war-torn eastern Ukraine in 2014. The move won swift support from international allies, a day after investigators concluded that the Russian-made BUK missile which tore apart the Boeing 777 passenger plane in […]

White House has deal to lift sanctions on China’s ZTE: report

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – The White House says it has reached a deal with Chinese telecoms giant ZTE that would lift crippling sanctions slapped on the company, The New York Times reported Friday. The news comes as the US prepares to send a trade delegation back to Beijing next week to continue talks aimed at defusing a potentially serious trade dispute with China, after the countries exchanged huge tit-for-tat threats on imports. The reported […]

Oman’s Salalah braces for Cyclone Mekunu

  Cyclone Mekunu which wreaked havoc in the Yemeni island of Socotra strengthened in intensity Friday as it bore down on southern Oman, lashing the coast with high winds and rain. “Latest observations show that tropical Cyclone Mekunu has intensified to category 2,” with high wind speeds, Oman’s directorate general of meteorology said on Twitter. The centre said the eye of the storm was expected to make landfall on the southern coast of the sultanate […]

Updated: Trump says summit with North Korea’s Kim could still go ahead on June 12

by Jerome Cartillier/ with Park Chan-kyong in Seoul Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump, a day after his cancellation of a high-stakes summit with North Korea, said Friday that the meeting with Kim Jong Un could still go ahead. “We’re going to see what happens,” Trump told reporters at the White House, after welcoming Pyongyang’s latest statement on the talks as “very good news.” “It could even be the […]

In focus: The nuclear test site North Korea decided to destroy

  SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Huge explosions reportedly shook North Korea’s only known nuclear test site on Thursday, in a ceremony that Pyongyang said had “completely” destroyed the facility near the Chinese border. The Punggye-ri test site, located beneath a mountain in the far northeast, hosted all six nuclear tests Pyongyang has conducted — most recently last September. Earlier this month the North announced it would blow up the site’s access tunnels in front of […]

Weinstein turns himself in to NY police station

  by Jennie Matthew Agence France Presse NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Fallen Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein turned himself in to New York police on Friday to face sex crime charges, nearly eight months after his career imploded in a blaze of assault accusations and triggered the global #MeToo movement. The former powerbroker — once the toast of Hollywood, whose films won scores of Oscars — is likely to be charged with raping one […]

50 dead in boat accident in northwest DR Congo

  MBANDAKA, DR Congo (AFP) — Fifty people died in a boat accident on a river in remote northwestern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), officials said on Friday. The accident happened on the Momboyo river Wednesday night, Richard Mboyo Iluka, vice governor of Tshuapa province, told AFP, saying: “We found 49 bodies on Thursday and another one this morning.” The boat had been transporting passengers and a large amount of goods from the town of […]

Taiwan scrambles fighter jets to track China bomber drill

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan on Friday scrambled fighter jets to shadow Chinese bombers conducting a drill around the island, just hours after Beijing welcomed Burkina Faso’s move to sever diplomatic ties with Taipei. Taiwan’s defense ministry said it had dispatched fighter jets to monitor two Chinese H-6 bombers that were flying over the Bashi Channel south of Taiwan and the Miyako Strait, near Japan’s Okinawa Island. “We are fully monitoring the situation and taking […]

Cyclone Mekunu intensifies as it bears down on Oman

SALALAH, Oman (AFP) — Oman said Friday that Cyclone Mekunu, which wreaked havoc in the Yemeni island of Socotra, has intensified into category 2 as it bore down on the south of the sultanate. “Latest observations show that tropical Cyclone Mekunu has intensified to category 2,” with high wind speeds, Oman’s Directorate General of Meteorology said on Twitter. The centre said in its latest warning that the eye of Mekunu was expected to hit Salalah, the […]

N. Korea open to US talks ‘any time’ despite Trump axing summit

  by Park Chan-kyong with Jerome Cartillier in Washington Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea said Friday it is willing to talk to the United States “at any time” after President Donald Trump abruptly cancelled a summit, a decision that once more casts a pall of uncertainty over the the turbulent Korean peninsula. Trump blamed “open hostility” from the North Korean regime for his decision to call off the planned talks […]