International

Indonesia cyclone death toll more than doubles to 41

  JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — A tropical cyclone that pounded Indonesia’s main island of Java has killed 41 people, the country’s disaster agency said Wednesday, more than double the initial toll, with tens of thousands displaced by severe flooding and landslides. Among the victims of Cyclone Cempaka were 25 people killed by a single landslide in east Java last week, the agency said. The initial cyclone death toll was 19. Some 28,000 people have been […]

Trump to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital

by Mike Smith with Andrew Beatty in Washington Agence France-Presse JERUSALEM, Israel (AFP) — President Donald Trump will recognise Jerusalem as Israel’s capital Wednesday, upending decades of careful US policy and ignoring dire warnings of a historic misstep that could trigger a surge of violence in the Middle East. A senior administration official said Trump would make the announcement — ignoring frantic warnings from US allies in the region and around the world — at […]

Cambodia seizes shipment of ivory hidden in hollow logs

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AFP) — Cambodia has seized nearly a tonne of ivory hidden in hollowed-out logs and discovered inside an abandoned shipping container, an official said Wednesday. The country has become a key regional transit point for the illicit wildlife trade. Nearly 280 pieces of ivory — full and partial elephant tusks — were found in the container at the southwestern port of Sihanoukville after sitting there for a year. The shipment, owned by […]

Nearly 50 injured in Germany train crash: fire dept

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — At least 47 people were injured when a passenger train crashed into a freight train near the western German city of Duesseldorf on Tuesday, prompting a large rescue operation. At least three of the passengers were “badly hurt” while the vast majority suffered light injuries, the Meerbusch fire department said on Twitter, giving the overall toll. The train was carrying 155 people. It was not immediately clear what caused the accident, which happened […]

US to study legality of bump stocks used in Las Vegas massacre

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Justice Department announced Tuesday that it is reviewing the legality of “bump stocks,” two months after a man shot down 58 concert-goers from a Las Vegas hotel window using the devices. The Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives — which regulates firearms but not gun accessories — will determine whether the devices, which make a semi-automatic weapon perform like an automatic weapon, are illegal. “Possessing firearm […]

Morocco’s king warns Trump against Jerusalem embassy move

RABAT, Morocco (AFP) — Morocco’s King Mohammed VI on Tuesday warned US President Donald Trump against moving the American embassy to the contested city of Jerusalem. Trump informed Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas by phone of his intention to move the embassy from Tel Aviv, Abbas’s office said Tuesday. In an open letter to the American president, the Moroccan king expressed his “deep personal concern” and “the great concern felt by Arab and Muslim states and peoples” over […]

One dead, two injured in Corsica airport shooting: sources

BASTIA, France (AFP) — One man was killed and two people were injured on Tuesday morning in a shooting at an airport on the French island of Corsica, emergency service workers told AFP. The shooting took place in a car park near the entrance of Bastia airport in the north of the Mediterranean island, leaving one man dead with a gunshot to the head, another with several bullet wounds and a third with minor injuries. […]

Recent clashes in Yemen capital killed at least 234: ICRC

SANAA, Yemen (AFP) — Clashes in the Yemeni capital have killed at least 234 people and wounded 400 since December 1, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Tuesday. “Now we have 400 wounded reported and 234 dead,” Sanaa-based ICRC spokeswoman Soumaya Beltifa told AFP, in reference to fighting between Huthi rebels and forces loyal to Ali Abdullah Saleh — who was himself killed on Monday. Strongman Saleh had on Saturday bypassed his […]

Two sentenced in Costa Rica for organ trafficking

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AFP)– A doctor and a pizzeria owner were sentenced by a Costa Rican court Monday for recruiting poor people to sell their kidneys for transplants to foreigners, mainly Israelis. The Costa Rican doctor found guilty of conducting illegal transplants, Francisco Mora Palma was jailed for 12 years under the verdict reached by a panel of three judges in the capital San Jose. A Greek businessman, Dimostenes Katsigiannis, was ordered imprisoned for eight […]

Saudi oil minister reaffirms OPEC output squeeze

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi Energy Minister Khaled al-Faleh said Monday that oil producing nations could start discussing in June when to raise output, though OPEC is expected to maintain curbs until it clears a global glut. OPEC and its partners agreed last week to keep a lid on output for all of 2018, a strategy that aims to reduce a global excess in supply that has pushed oil prices lower and left a […]

UN envoy bound for N. Korea as tensions soar

by Philippe Rater Agence France Presse UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — The United Nations has dispatched an envoy to North Korea for a rare visit aimed at defusing tensions over Pyongyang’s intercontinental ballistic missile launch, as the US and South Korea began joint military exercises condemned by Kim Jong-Un’s regime. The unusual visit by Jeffrey Feltman, which begins Tuesday and runs to Friday, comes less than a week after North Korea test-fired a ballistic […]

Supreme Court allows Trump travel ban to take effect pending appeal

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US Supreme Court said Monday that the government could fully enforce a revised ban on travelers from six mainly Muslim countries pending appeal, backing President Donald Trump in the year-long battle over the controversial measure. The court stayed October rulings from two lower courts that had blocked implementation of the ban on visitors from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen while legal challenges to it continued. The third […]