International

US lifts ban on refugees from 11 countries

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States announced Monday it was lifting its ban on refugees from 11 “high-risk” countries, but said those seeking to enter the US would come under much tougher scrutiny than in the past. Applicants from 11 countries, unnamed but understood to include 10 Muslim-majority nations plus North Korea, will face tougher “risk-based” assessments to be accepted. “It’s critically important that we know who is entering the United States,” said Homeland Security […]

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In the Galapagos, an idyllic hammerhead shark nursery

by Jordi MIRO Agence France-Presse SANTA CRUZ, Ecuador (AFP) — For millions of years, new-born hammerhead sharks have grown up in nurseries sheltered by the mangrove swamps and reefs of the Galapagos Islands, safe from all human threat. But until November, biologists had no idea the sharks had their own hideaway that could hold some of the final secrets of this remote archipelago 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) off South America’s Pacific coast. “It was quite […]

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Seine reaches peak in flood-hit Paris

by Clare BYRNE Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — The swollen Seine peaked Monday at more than four meters above its normal level, leaving a lengthy mop-up job for Parisians after days of rising waters that have put the soggy city on alert. The river rose to 5.84 metres (19.2 feet) early Monday, causing continued headaches for commuters as well as people living near its overflowing banks. The Vigicrues flooding watchdog said the river […]

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Search for more survivors from sunken ferry resumes in Pacific

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) — The search for survivors from a ferry which sank with 50 people aboard in the remote Pacific resumed Monday, with rescuers saying they remained optimistic as they comb an area larger than Italy. A New Zealand Air Force Orion plane located seven survivors drifting in a dinghy late Sunday after the sinking of the MV Butiraoi, which set off from the island nation of Kiribati on January 18. NZDF Air […]

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Yemen govt warns of coup as separatists take over headquarters

ADEN, Yemen (AFP) — Yemen’s government accused southern separatists of an attempted coup on Sunday after they took over its headquarters amid fierce clashes in the city of Aden. The fighting, which killed at least 15 people, threw war-torn Yemen into further chaos and threatened to undermine President Abedrabbo Mansour Hadi, who ordered his forces to stand down. Security sources and residents said clashes appeared to have spread to most of the city. The government […]

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Navalny arrested as thousands rally against Putin and ‘pseudo-polls’

by Anna SMOLCHENKO / Ola CICHOWLAS Agence France Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian police on Sunday detained opposition leader Alexei Navalny in Moscow as thousands rallied across the country against a March election expected to extend Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin term. Heeding a call by Putin’s bete noire, thousands braved freezing temperatures to stage rallies in dozens of cities to protest upcoming “pseudo-elections,” as Navalny and his supporters refer to them. In Moscow, Navalny chanted […]

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Ambulance bomb kills 95, wounds 158 in Kabul: official

  by Mushtaq MOJADDIDI and Emal HAIDARY Agence France Presse KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — An explosives-packed ambulance blew up in a crowded area of Kabul on Saturday, killing at least 95 people and wounding 158 others, officials said, in one of the biggest blasts to rock the war-torn city in recent years. The Taliban-claimed assault — the second carried out by the militant group in the Afghan capital in a week — triggered chaotic scenes […]

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US casino mogul resigns from Republican finance post

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Las Vegas casino billionaire Steve Wynn stepped down Saturday as Republican National Committee finance chairman, following allegations of decades of sexual misconduct. The 76-year-old former business rival turned political ally of President Donald Trump had assumed the RNC position after Trump took office in January 2017. Wynn has denied the allegations, first published in The Wall Street Journal on Friday, and accused his ex-wife Elaine of instigating the accusations as […]

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‘Deportados Brand’: Mexicans stand up to Trump with T-shirts

by Yussel Gonzalez © Agence France-Presse MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — Few people know gate “N” at Mexico City’s airport but three times a week it is the arrival point for the latest group of Mexican immigrants deported by the United States. Waiting to meet them is Adan Jacome. Jacome, 45, goes to the terminal to offer the support of a group of immigrants also repatriated to Mexico, and who are the brains behind “Deportados Brand,” a small […]

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Families voice anger over deadly South Korea hospital fire

by Jung Ha-Won © Agence France-Presse MIRYANG, South Korea (AFP) — Distraught relatives of those killed in a deadly South Korean hospital fire voiced anger Saturday at what they perceived as another man-made disaster in Asia’s fourth largest economy, just as it prepares to host the Winter Olympics. The huge blaze that erupted at the hospital in the southeastern city of Miryang Friday killed at least 37 people including 34 patients — mostly elderly women — and three […]

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Paris braces for floods as swollen Seine inches higher

by Amélie Bottollier-Depois © Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Paris was on high alert Saturday as the swollen Seine continued to creep higher, with forecasters warning the river could stay high throughout next week, especially if more rain is dumped on France. Leaks started to appear in some basements Friday, while some residents on the city’s outskirts were forced to travel by boat through waterlogged streets. The Louvre, Musee d’Orsay and Orangerie museums are on high […]

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Leading Hong Kong democracy activist banned from vote

HONG KONG, China (AFP) — One of Hong Kong’s best-known democracy activists was banned Saturday from standing as lawmaker in upcoming elections, the latest blow to freedoms in the city as Beijing tightens its grip. Agnes Chow, 21, a former leader of the mass Umbrella Movement protests of 2014 that called for political reform, had her nomination rejected because she supports self-determination for the semi-autonomous city, the government said. It comes as fears grow that […]

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