International

S.Korean reporters cleared for North nuke site visit: Seoul

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Pyongyang has given South Korean reporters a last-minute green-light to witness the slated demolition of North Korea’s nuclear test site, Seoul said Wednesday. Pyongyang announced earlier this month that it planned to “completely” destroy the Punggye-ri facility in the country’s mountainous northeast. The demolition is due to take place sometime between Wednesday and Friday, depending on the weather, according to the North. A handful of foreign journalists, including from South […]

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Fourteen priests linked to Chile sex abuse stripped of duties

SANTIAGO, Chile (AFP) — Fourteen priests involved in a sex abuse scandal in Chile — which has rocked Catholic Pope Francis’ papacy — were stripped of their priestly duties Tuesday. “Fourteen priests no longer are allowed to carry out their duties… These priests have taken part in actions that may be civilian crimes as well as within the church,” the bishop’s office in the city of Rancagua said. Just Friday, 34 Chilean bishops announced their […]

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Texas begins talks on preventing school shootings

CHICAGO, United States (AFP) — Texas Governor Greg Abbott met Tuesday with experts and politicians to discuss how to prevent school shootings, five days after a teenage gunman killed 10 people at a high school in the southern US state. Abbott, a Republican, focused the first of three “roundtable sessions” on school safety. Over the next two days, gun regulation, mental health issues, and victims’ needs are also on the agenda. The talks came in […]

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Trump says Kim summit could be delayed

by Andrew Beatty Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump warned Tuesday his landmark summit with Kim Jong Un may be delayed but insisted the North Korean leader is “serious” about denuclearization. Hosting South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the White House, Trump did little to quell speculation about the wavering prospects of a historic first summit between US and North Korean leaders. “It may not work out for June […]

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‘I’m sorry’, Facebook boss tells European lawmakers

  by Lachlan Carmichael Agence France Presse BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg apologized to the European Parliament on Tuesday for the “harm” caused by a huge breach of users’ data and by a failure to crack down on fake news. But Zuckerberg’s appearance failed to satisfy MEPs who accused him of dodging questions and criticised a format that gave the parliament’s political leaders far more time to give long-winded speeches. His livestreamed […]

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Death toll in DR Congo Ebola outbreak now at 27; authorities start administering prototype vaccine

  KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — The death toll from Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has risen to 27, the health ministry said on Tuesday, after a fatality was recorded in a city on the front line of the outbreak. The death, which involved a person confirmed by lab tests as having the viral disease, occurred in Wangata, a district of Mbandaka, the ministry said in a press release. So far, there […]

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Five dead, dozens quarantined as fear of virus carried by fruit bats spread in India

  NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — A deadly virus carried by fruit bats has killed at least five people in southern India and more than 90 people are in quarantine, a top health official said Tuesday. Other deaths are suspected to have been caused by Nipah virus and authorities have ordered emergency measures to control the outbreak. “We can confirm that five people have died from the Nipah virus,” Kerala state health surveillance officer K.J. […]

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Foreign media head to N. Korea to witness nuclear site destruction

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Foreign journalists headed to North Korea on Tuesday to witness the promised destruction of its nuclear test site, a move is seen as a goodwill gesture before a planned summit with the United States. Dozens of reporters from China, the United States, and Russia departed on a charter flight from Beijing, according to Chinese state broadcaster CGTN which is part of the contingent. It showed the journalists board a small plane […]

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Harry and Meghan thank royal wedding guests as Kensington Palace releases official wedding photos

  LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Newlyweds Prince Harry and Meghan thanked everyone who took part in the celebrations of their wedding on Saturday, as their Kensington Palace residence published three official wedding photographs. “The Duke and Duchess of Sussex would like to thank everyone who took part in the celebrations of their wedding on Saturday,” the palace said in a statement. “They feel so lucky to have been able to share their day with […]

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Trump-Kim summit in play as Moon visits White House

by Andrew Beatty Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Donald Trump holds a high-stakes meeting with South Korea’s president at the White House Tuesday, talks that could decide whether the US president’s much-vaunted summit with the North’s leader Kim Jong Un goes ahead. Moon Jae-in jets into Washington on a mission to salvage a rare diplomatic opening between the US and North Korea that is in trouble almost before it begins. Trump had […]

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Australian archbishop guilty of concealing child sex abuse

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — An Australian archbishop was Tuesday found guilty of covering up child sex abuse in the 1970s — one of the highest-ranked church officials globally to be successfully prosecuted for such offences. Adelaide Archbishop Philip Wilson was accused of concealing abuse by notorious pedophile priest Jim Fletcher in the New South Wales Hunter region by failing to report the allegations. His legal team reportedly made four attempts to have the case thrown […]

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First woman CIA director sworn in

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Veteran CIA officer Gina Haspel was sworn in as the agency’s first female director Monday, hailing the “heroines” who had gone before her and expressing hope she and her team would be “role models.” The 61-year-old Haspel, a Russia specialist who spent her career in the Central Intelligence Agency’s clandestine service, takes over from Mike Pompeo, whom Trump recently made his secretary of state. Haspel was confirmed by the Senate […]

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