International

Trump son-in-law Kushner loses top security clearance: sources

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior aide Jared Kushner has lost his top-level security clearance, sources familiar with the matter said Tuesday, a decision with potentially profound implications for the US administration. Two sources, who could not speak on the record because the status of security clearances is classified, confirmed US media reports that the 37-year-old White House aide had lost access to America’s most closely protected secrets. The White House, […]

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Fresh violence marks first day of Syria enclave ‘truce’

by Hasan Mohamed © Agence France-Presse DOUMA, Syria (AFP) — A “humanitarian pause” announced by Russia in Syria’s deadly bombardment of Eastern Ghouta failed to end violence Tuesday, with fresh bloodshed and no sign of aid deliveries or residents leaving the besieged enclave. Nine days after Russian-backed regime forces intensified their campaign against the rebel-held enclave, the deal offered some respite to civilians who had been hiding in their basements. But the first day of a five-hour […]

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Prosecutors seek 30 years’ jail for ousted S. Korea president

by Park Chan-kyong © Agence France-Presse SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korean prosecutors on Tuesday demanded a 30-year-jail sentence for former president Park Geun-hye, sacked over a wide-ranging corruption scandal which exposed shady links between big business and politics and prompted massive street protests. The 66-year-old daughter of a former dictator was dismissed in March 2017 and has now been in custody for almost a year. “We ask the court to hand down 30 years in prison […]

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China drowns out critics of lifetime Xi presidency

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s propaganda machine kicked into overdrive on Tuesday to defend the Communist Party’s move to lift term limits for President Xi Jinping as criticism persisted on social media in defiance of censorship. The party has shocked many observers by proposing a constitutional amendment to end the two-term limit for president, giving Xi a clear path to rule the world’s second-largest economy for life. Censors have scrambled to block critical comments on […]

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More than 30 believed dead in PNG quake: report

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — More than 30 people are believed to have died after a powerful earthquake struck Papua New Guinea’s mountainous interior, a report said Tuesday as rescue teams worked to reach the worst-hit areas. The 7.5-magnitude tremor struck 90 kilometers (55 miles) south of Porgera in the Pacific nation’s Enga province early Monday, with two strong aftershocks rattling the rugged region. Phone lines have been largely cut, but the PNG Post Courier newspaper […]

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Saudi king sacks chief of staff in major military shake-up

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — Saudi King Salman has sacked the military chief of staff and a host of other top commanders, state media said Monday, in a major shake-up of the defense establishment. The monarch also replaced the heads of the ground forces and air defenses, as well as senior officials at the interior ministry, in a series of late-night royal decrees. No official reason was given for the sweeping overhaul, but it comes […]

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Ivanka says ‘inappropriate’ to be asked about Trump’s accusers

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Is it out of bounds to ask a White House advisor about the US president’s behavior when that advisor also happens to be his daughter? Ivanka Trump says yes. Donald Trump’s eldest daughter was confronted with that situation when a journalist asked her about the women who accuse her father of sexual misconduct before he became president. “Do you believe your father’s accusers?” an NBC News journalist asked her in […]

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PNG troops respond to major 7.5 quake as aftershocks hit

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Papua New Guinea sent troops and rescue workers after a powerful earthquake struck the Pacific nation’s mountainous interior Monday and damaged a gas plant and other buildings. Authorities warned of aftershocks and landslides. There was no official information on fatalities or injuries in the rugged region but one unconfirmed report of deaths. Assessment teams headed to affected areas near the 7.5-magnitude quake’s epicenter, which the US Geological Survey said was some […]

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Russia calls daily truce in battered Syria enclave

by Hasan Mohamed Agence France Presse DOUMA, Syria (AFP) — Russia called a daily “humanitarian pause” in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta, bowing to pressure to halt the carnage in the rebel-held enclave where bombardments eased late Monday after hours of deadly raids. A UN Security Council resolution for a 30-day truce had remained a dead letter since it was passed on Saturday, and Moscow, the Damascus regime’s main backer, ended up setting its own terms to […]

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US should lower ‘threshold for talks’ with N. Korea: Seoul

  SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korean President Moon Jae-in urged the United States to “lower the threshold for talks” with North Korea on Monday as his aides held rare talks with a Pyongyang general on ways to defuse tensions. Moon has sought to use the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics that ended on Sunday to open dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang in the hopes of easing a nuclear standoff that has sparked global security fears. […]

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China’s Xi takes another stride in Mao’s footsteps

by Dan Martin Agence France Presse SHANGHAI, China (AFP) — Xi Jinping’s tightening grip on China had already earned the leader comparisons to Mao Zedong, but they came into even sharper focus after the party paved the way for him to assume the presidency indefinitely. State media said on Sunday that the ruling Communist Party had proposed abolishing rules limiting leaders to two five-year terms, a guideline imposed in Mao’s wake to avoid a repeat […]

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Four dead in Leicester explosion: British police

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Four people were killed in an explosion and fire at a three-storey building in the central English city of Leicester, police said on Monday. “At this stage, there are four confirmed fatalities and four people remain in hospital, one with serious injuries,” Leicestershire police said in a statement about the blast on Sunday evening. Officers said there was no indication the explosion was related to terrorism but the cause had […]

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