International

Romania’s president defends anti-graft body after abuse allegations

  BUCHAREST, Romania (AFP) — Romania’s centre-right President Klaus Iohannis defended on Thursday the country’s anti-corruption body and its head Laura Codruta Kovesi, who is facing dismissal calls from the left-wing majority over alleged “abuses”. “The DNA (anti-graft organisation) and its management are doing a good job and the attack on them by people in conflict with the law only confirms it,” Iohannis said at a press conference. He said he would soon be meeting with justice […]

‘Elusive’ brain injuries seen in study of US diplomats in Cuba

MIAMI, United States (AFP) — A study of 21 American diplomats who claimed they were victims of mysterious sonic attacks in Cuba shows they sustained brain injuries without any apparent head trauma, US researchers said Thursday. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine examined 21 US government staff members who complained of symptoms resembling a concussion after serving in Havana in 2016 and 2017. “These individuals appeared to have sustained injury to widespread brain networks […]

Florida shooter a troubled loner with white supremacist ties

PARKLAND, United States (AFP) — Nikolas Cruz was expelled from school, threatened fellow students and posted “very disturbing” messages on social media, along with pictures of his favorite guns. But despite broad signs suggesting he was a deeply troubled young man, Cruz was able to return to his Parkland, Florida high school Wednesday with an assault rifle and open fire, killing 17 students and adults. A mugshot of Cruz, released after his arrest, depicts a young man […]

S.Africa parliament to elect Ramaphosa as president Thursday

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AFP) — South Africa’s parliament will elect Cyril Ramaphosa as the country’s new president on Thursday, the ruling ANC party said, after Jacob Zuma resigned in a late-night television address. The African National Congress (ANC), which has a large majority in parliament, said it would nominate Ramaphosa, a wealthy former businessman, “to be elected as the new President of the Republic of South Africa”. After being voted in, Ramaphosa will address lawmakers […]

The Florida shooter, a troubled teenager and gun lover

PARKLAND, United States (AFP) — Nikolas Cruz, the shooter who opened fire on a Florida school Wednesday killing 17 people, was a teenage gun lover previously expelled from the school for disciplinary reasons. The gunman, 19, showed up at the end of the school day at his former school — Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland — with a semi-automatic AR-15 assault rifle and a large amount of ammunition. Local police later arrested him […]

‘US presence matters’ says admiral on carrier in the South China Sea

by Ayee Macaraig Agence France Presse ABOARD THE USS CARL VINSON — With a deafening roar the fighter jets catapulted off the US aircraft carrier and soared above the disputed South China Sea, as its admiral vowed that the mighty ship’s presence was proof America still had regional clout. “US presence matters,” Rear Admiral John Fuller told reporters on board the USS Carl Vinson. “I think it’s very clear that we are in the South […]

Worst mass shootings in the modern United States

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A gunman opened fire at a high school in southern Florida on Wednesday, killing at least 17 people. Here are some of the deadliest mass shootings in the United States in the past three decades: Vegas concert: 58 killed A 64-year-old man whose father had been on the FBI’s most wanted list in the late 1960s shoots down from his hotel room at a crowd attending an outdoor country music […]

Zuma’s reluctant exit ushers in new S.African president

by Ben Sheppard Agence France Presse JOHHANESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — South Africa readied to welcome wealthy former businessman Cyril Ramaphosa as its new president Thursday after scandal-tainted Jacob Zuma resigned under intense pressure from his own party. Zuma announced he had stepped down in a late-night television address in which he took some digs at the African National Congress (ANC) party that had threatened to oust him via a parliament no-confidence vote. In a […]

Trump pushes immigration plan as Senate mulls narrower path

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump on Wednesday was on a collision course over immigration with US senators including some within his own party, as they struggled to reach a solution protecting 1.8 million immigrants from deportation. With senators racing against a self-imposed deadline to strike a deal this week, Trump demanded the chamber rally around his proposal, which puts the “Dreamer” immigrants who were brought to the country illegally as children on a pathway […]

At least 19 migrants killed in Libya truck crash: hospital

TRIPOLI, Libya (AFP) — At least 19 migrants were killed on Wednesday and more than 100 injured when the truck transporting them crashed in Libya, a hospital said. Over 300 migrants, mostly Eritrean and Somali nationals, were on board the vehicle which overturned near the town of Bani Walid. A child was among the at least 19 migrants killed in the accident, the head of the town’s hospital, Mohamad al-Mabrouk, told AFP. The hospital, which had earlier given […]

Ramaphosa: Trade unionist, tycoon and S.Africa’s likely next leader

by Gregory Walton © Agence France-Presse CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AFP) — Cyril Ramaphosa’s long and eventful career has taken him from trade union activist to multi-millionaire — and is now likely to become president of South Africa. After South Africa dismantled apartheid, Ramaphosa saw his hopes for the country’s top job apparently dashed. True to his pragmatic character, he opted instead for life in business — a move that brought him spectacular wealth. But Wednesday’s announcement […]

Zimbabwe opposition leader Tsvangirai dies at 65

by Fanuel Jongwe  © Agence France-Presse HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP) — Morgan Tsvangirai, the veteran Zimbabwean opposition leader who confronted Robert Mugabe’s regime for many years, died on Wednesday after a battle with cancer, a party official said. He was 65. Tsvangirai, who founded the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party in 1999, was among the most prominent critics of Mugabe, the long-time authoritarian leader who was ousted from power in November. “It is sad for me to […]