International

‘Fire and Fury’: Excerpts from Trump tell-all book which hit stores early on Friday

https://youtu.be/VIK-_T8UTCA   WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The following are excerpts from “Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House,” an incendiary new book by Michael Wolff which was rushed into bookstores Friday after President Donald Trump failed to suppress it. The book quickly sold out in shops in the US capital, with some lining up at midnight to get their hands on the instant best-seller, dismissed by Trump as “phony” and “full of lies.” […]

10 dates since Iran’s Islamic revolution

TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Here are key events that have marked Iran since the 1979 Islamic revolution that overthrew the monarchy. Islamic republic proclaimed On January 16, 1979 the US-backed shah, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, leaves for exile after months of protests against him. On February 1 revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini makes a triumphant return from exile. Ten days later the shah’s government falls, public radio announces “the end of 2,500 years of despotism”. An […]

Iran foreign minister ridicules Trump ‘blunder’ at UN

TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif ridiculed US President Donald Trump on Saturday over what he called the foreign policy “blunder” of trying to raise its recent protests at the UN Security Council. The Security Council “rebuffed the US’ naked attempt to hijack its mandate”, wrote Zarif on Twitter. “Majority emphasised the need to fully implement the JCPOA (nuclear deal) and to refrain from interfering in internal affairs of others. Another […]

Twitter won’t block world leaders, citing need for discourse

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Twitter announced Friday it would not block the accounts of world leaders even if their statements are “controversial,” citing a need to promote a “public conversation” on political issues. The announcement came just days after a tweet from President Donald Trump hinting at the use of US nuclear weapons sparked criticism that the social network was allowing threats of violence. “Twitter is here to serve and help advance the global, public conversation. […]

18 killed as minibus, truck collide in Guinea-Bissau

BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau (AFP) — Eighteen people were killed and another 14 injured in the small west African state of Guinea-Bissau late Friday when a minibus collided with a truck, police and hospital sources said. One witness said the truck appeared to have been speeding when the driver lost control and collided head-on with the minibus near Bissauzinho, around 15 kilometres (15 miles) from the capital Bissau. Sources said the bus had been overloaded and that at least […]

Trump could freeze $2 billion of Pakistan aid over militant havens

by Andrew Beatty Agence France Presse President Donald Trump’s freeze on aid to Pakistan could be worth almost two billion dollars, a senior US administration official said on Friday — substantially more than first thought. The move — designed to force Pakistan’s military and intelligence apparatus to cut support for the Taliban and other Islamist groups — will include both US military assistance and Afghanistan coalition funding to Islamabad. It is “approximately two billion worth […]

North and South Korea agree to first talks in two years

  by Park Chan-Kyong Agence France Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North and South Korea agreed on Friday to hold their first talks in more than two years, hours after Seoul and Washington decided to defer joint military exercises which always infuriate Pyongyang until after the Winter Olympics. The meeting, the first since December 2015, will take place in Panmunjom, the truce village in the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone that divides the peninsula. South […]

13 dead in Indonesia’s second fatal boat accident in a week

  PALEMBANG, Indonesia (AFP) — At least 13 people died after a passenger boat capsized off the Indonesian island of Sumatra, two days after another ferry accident in the archipelago killed at least nine, police said Friday. The boat was carrying 55 people along the Musi river when it hit a large wave and sank amid bad weather Wednesday, South Sumatra water police chief Robinson Siregar said. He said the police were still searching for […]

Watch: “Bomb cyclone” winter storm hits US East Coast, thousands of flights cancelled

  A giant winter “bomb cyclone” walloped the US East Coast on Thursday, January 4, with freezing cold and heavy snow, forcing thousands of flight cancellations and widespread school closures — and even prompting the US Senate to cancel votes for the rest of the week. Most of the people stayed indoors, cars and roads are seen here covered with thick snow. The snow gusts, and strong winds blowing, plus an estimated snowfall of eight […]

‘Don’t fear death’: China’s Xi urges blunt call to PLA

BEIJING, China (AFP) — President Xi Jinping has issued a blunt call for China’s military to be ready for war and unafraid to die defending the country, as geopolitical tensions mount in Asia. Xi’s exhortation to the world’s largest fighting force, parts of which were revealed only late Thursday, came during what state media characterized as a rare address by the Chinese leader to the country’s entire military. Xi cemented his status as China’s most […]