International

WHO reports new Ebola case in DR Congo, vaccine this week

  KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — The head of the World Health Organization said Sunday there has been another reported case of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo and that an experimental vaccine to fight the disease is expected to become available in the country this week. Doctor Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on a two-visit to DR Congo, said the suspected new case was in Bikoro, at the centre of the latest Ebola outbreak in the […]

Trump pledges to safeguard Chinese telecoms jobs

    by Issam Ahmed © Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump said Sunday he was working with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to prevent telecom giant ZTE from going out of business after it was hit by an American technology sales ban. Writing on Twitter, Trump said he had issued instructions for officials to come up with a rescue plan, saying too many jobs were at risk. “President Xi of […]

US ready to offer North Korea security assurances, investment: Pompeo

    by James Mannion © Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States is prepared to offer North Korea security assurances and bountiful private investment if it makes the strategic choice to give up its nuclear weapons, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pledged Sunday. The US price for normalization — complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization — is one Pyongyang has never before been willing to pay, seeing nuclear weapons as the ultimate […]

Iraq PM appears in lead after first post-IS election

by Sarah Benhaida © Agence France-Presse BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — Iraqi Prime Minister’s political grouping appeared in the lead Sunday following the country’s first election since defeating the Islamic State group, after a vote hit by record abstentions. Preliminary results given to AFP by several senior political figures showed Abadi’s Victory Alliance scooping some 60 of the 329 parliament seats up for grabs. The result from Saturday’s nationwide poll would make Abadi frontrunner in the horse-trading […]

On eve of Israel embassy move, US says ‘hard at work’ on peace

  by Ian Geoffrey Timberlake © Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Top US officials insisted Sunday that they could still push forward the troubled Israeli-Palestinian peace process despite outrage across the Arab world over the opening of the new American embassy in Jerusalem. Speaking on the eve of the embassy opening, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he was hopeful of success in efforts to end the decades-old conflict while National Security Advisor John […]

Friend of Paris knife attacker arrested in Strasbourg: source

PARIS, France (AFP)–A friend of the Chechen-born man who killed one person during a stabbing spree in Paris on Saturday night has been arrested in the eastern French city of Strasbourg, a source close to the inquiry said Sunday. The attacker, whom official sources have named as Khamzat A., grew up with his family in Strasbourg, home to a large community of refugees from the Muslim Russian republic of Chechnya.

At least two dead, 13 injured in Indonesia attacks: police

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP)–At least two people were killed and 13 others injured in bomb attacks, including a suicide blast, targeting churches in Indonesia’s second biggest city Surabaya, police said Sunday. “There have been three attacks at three churches,” East Java Police spokesman Frans Barung Mangera said. The deadly blasts all occurred within 10 minutes of each other, police said, with the first explosion at 7.30 am (0030 GMT).

US vows to make North Korea rich if it gives up nukes

  by Francesco Fontemaggi / Dave Clark © Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States promised Friday that it would work to rebuild North Korea’s sanctions-crippled economy if Kim Jong Un’s regime agrees to surrender its nuclear arsenal. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s vow came as senior US officials expressed growing optimism ahead of the landmark June 12 summit between Kim and President Donald Trump. Pompeo, who held talks Pyongyang’s young leader over […]

China still won’t tell truth about Sichuan quake: Ai Weiwei

by Hui Min Neo © Agence France-Presse BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — A decade since the devastating earthquake in China’s Sichuan province that left more than 87,000 people dead or missing, activist artist Ai Weiwei concedes that Beijing will never provide a full reckoning of the disaster. “We will never get a straight answer. Since the communist government was set up, the truth behind all major historical events has never been officially revealed,” the conceptual artist told […]

Catalan lawmakers vote on new regional separatist leader

  by Daniel Bosque © Agence France-Presse BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — Catalonia’s parliament will vote Saturday on whether to appoint hardline independence supporter Quim Torra as regional president, after deposed leader Carles Puigdemont stepped aside from the running. Torra, a 55-year-old father-of-three, is an independence advocate cut from the same cloth as Puigdemont who picked him and has tasked him with continuing his fight with Spain’s central government to achieve independence. On Friday, Torra said his […]

China marks 10th anniversary of devastating earthquake

    BEIJING, China (AFP) — China marked the 10th anniversary Saturday of a massive earthquake that killed tens of thousands in southwest Sichuan province and left scars on the nation that have yet to fully heal. More than 87,000 were left dead or missing when a 7.9-magnitude quake struck Sichuan on the afternoon of May 12, 2008, including 5,335 school pupils. The disaster provoked widespread grief in China, but also outrage after it emerged 7,000 […]

Iraq holds first nationwide election since IS defeat

  by Salam Faraj with Mohammad Salim in Mosul © Agence France-Presse BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) — Iraq headed to the polls Saturday for its first parliamentary election since declaring victory over the Islamic State group, with the country hoping to shore up a fragile peace and rebuild. Some 24.5 million voters began casting their ballots under tight security, as the jihadists still pose a major security threat despite a sharp fall in violence. The poll comes […]