International

US Senate passes tax rewrite, in major win for Trump

by Michael Mathes © Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Senate Republicans narrowly passed landmark tax reform early Saturday, a critical step toward delivering a monumental legislative victory for President Donald Trump in his first year in office. After a marathon session that stretched overnight, the chamber voted 51 to 49 in favor of the nation’s largest tax overhaul in 31 years, overcoming stubborn internal Republican resistance and dismissing Democrats angry over the last-minute revisions to […]

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North Korea holds mass celebrations for latest missile test

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea held mass celebrations for its latest successful long-range missile test, Pyongyang’s state media said Saturday, with a propaganda-filled display of fireworks and dancing in public squares. The ruling Workers Party official daily Rodong Sinmun covered its front page with colour photographs showing thousands of tightly packed soldiers and people applauding in Pyongyang’s Kim Il-Sung square, which was decorated with large portraits of the North’s late leaders. “We heartily […]

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Potassium cyanide killed war criminal: Dutch prosecutors

by Jo Biddle / Charlotte VAN OUWERKERK Agence France Presse THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — Bosnian Croat war criminal Slobodan Praljak likely died from heart failure after swallowing potassium cyanide, Dutch prosecutors said Friday, two days after his dramatic courtroom suicide in front of UN judges. “The preliminary results of the toxicological test showed that Mister Praljak had a concentration of potassium cyanide in his blood,” the Dutch prosecution said in a statement. “This has […]

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Ex-Trump aide Flynn pleads guilty to lying about Russia links

by Sébastien Blanc and Paul Handley Agence France Presse Donald Trump’s former top adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty Friday to lying to the FBI over his contacts with Russia, in a dramatic escalation of the probe into possible collusion between the president’s campaign team and Moscow. The 58-year-old Flynn — a retired three-star Army general — is the most senior figure indicted in special prosecutor Robert Mueller’s sprawling investigation into Russian interference in last year’s […]

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Japan emperor to abdicate in April 2019

  by Richard Carter Agence France Presse   TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Japan’s Emperor Akihito will step down on April 30, 2019, the prime minister announced Friday, the first retirement in more than two centuries in the world’s oldest imperial family. Shinzo Abe said he was “deeply moved” at the “smooth decision” taken at a special meeting of the Imperial Council to decide on the date for the popular 83-year-old to step down for health […]

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May says Trump ‘wrong’ on anti-Muslim videos

by Dario Thuburn and Alice Ritchie Agence France-Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Prime Minister Theresa May repeated Thursday that US President Donald Trump was wrong to retweet anti-Muslim videos posted by a British far-right group, but stressed that the US-UK’s “special relationship” would endure. May’s initial condemnation prompted an extraordinary rebuke from the US leader, who told her on Twitter: “Don’t focus on me, focus on the destructive Radical Islamic Terrorism that is taking place within […]

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Saudi Arabia intercepts second Yemen missile in a month

by Anuj Chopra with Natacha Yazbeck in Dubai Agence France-Presse RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) – Saudi Arabia on Thursday intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile fired from war-torn Yemen, state media reported, the second such attack this month claimed by Iran-backed Huthi rebels. The missile targeted the southern Saudi city of Khamis Mushait, with authorities reporting no casualties, just hours after the rebels threatened to retaliate over a crippling blockade on Yemen. A Saudi-led coalition fighting the […]

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Trump to give State of the Union address on Jan 30

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump will deliver his first traditional State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on January 30, officials said Thursday. “The New Year will bring an opportunity to take account of the progress we have made but also lay out the work that still remains to be done on behalf of the American people,” House Speaker Paul Ryan said in his letter of invitation to Trump. […]

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Venezuela arrests former oil bosses in corruption purge

by Alexander Martinez Agence France-Presse CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuela’s military on Thursday arrested the country’s former oil minister and the ex-chief of state oil company PDVSA after both men were sacked as part of an anti-corruption crackdown. Attorney General Tarek William Saab told journalists that the former minister Eulogio del Pino and ex-PDVSA boss Nelson Martinez were picked up in a dawn operation by the country’s Military Counterintelligence Unit. Both former officials were arrested at their […]

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Dutch probe Bosnian war criminal’s suicide in UN court

by Jo Biddle and Charlotte van Ouwerkerk THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — Dutch prosecutors were investigating Thursday how a Bosnian Croat war criminal managed to commit suicide in front of shocked UN judges, in scenes set to cast a shadow over the court’s two-decade legacy. Staff at the imposing buildings of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague had been expecting to spend the next few weeks quietly winding down […]

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Storm kills at least seven in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Sri Lanka’s government on Thursday deployed troops to help regions stricken by a major storm which killed seven people with five others missing, authorities said. Powerful winds and torrential rain battered much of the island late Wednesday, toppling trees and damaging buildings. More than 20,000 people have been affected by the storm, according to disaster management center spokesman Pradeep Kodippily, who gave the death toll. Two of the missing were […]

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Europe in reach of N. Korea missiles: France

PARIS, France (AFP) — Europe, like the United States, is now in reach of North Korea’s ballistic missiles, French Defense Minister Florence Parly warned Thursday. The regime’s test of its third intercontinental ballistic missile on Wednesday is “a demonstration of (Pyongyang’s) rising power” Parly told BFM television. “Europe like the United States is certainly within reach of these launches,” she said, adding that “few Western cities” would be out of range. An initial assessment by […]

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