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by David Harding Agence France Presse DOHA, Qatar (AFP) — Qatar has set a temporary minimum wage for migrant workers worth around $200 a month, its labor minister said Thursday, a benchmark reform following widespread criticism of Doha’s preparations for the 2022 World Cup. Issa al-Nuaimi told AFP that the “temporary minimum wage of 750 riyals ($195, 166 euro) per month will immediately come into effect,” while officials work on setting a permanent rate. In […]
UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “very much disappointed” that the Saudi-led coalition is refusing to lift its blockade of Yemen and has written directly to Riyadh’s representative, his spokesman said Thursday. The coalition shut down Yemen’s sea and air ports as well as borders on November 6 in response to a missile attack by the Iran-backed Huthi rebels near Riyadh. After repeated appeals by UN officials were ignored, Guterres […]
by Susan Njanji Agence France Presse HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP) — Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, the world’s oldest head of state, refused to resign during a crunch meeting Thursday with military generals who have seized control of the country. The talks in Harare came after tumultuous days in which soldiers blockaded key roads, took over state TV and put the veteran leader under house arrest. “They met today. He is refusing to step down. I think […]
TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A Japanese railway operator has issued a deep apology for the “tremendous nuisance” caused by a train departing 20 seconds early, surprising even a nation renowned for both punctuality and politeness. The Tsukuba Express train linking Tokyo and the capital’s northern suburbs pulled out of Minami Nagareyama Station at 9:44:20 instead of 9:44:40. “We deeply apologize for causing tremendous nuisance to customers,” said the Tsukuba Express company. “There was no complaint […]
by Becky Davis Agence France-Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — China is set to dispatch a special envoy to North Korea on Friday, a trip hailed as a “big move” by US President Donald Trump, who has urged Beijing to pile pressure on its nuclear-armed ally. Song Tao is officially traveling to the North to brief officials on the recent Chinese Communist Party congress and “other issues of mutual concern” on behalf of President Xi Jinping. But analysts […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Crisis-plagued Venezuela suffered another blow Thursday as a committee of creditors ruled that state oil company PDVSA has defaulted on its debt, a decision that triggers payment of default insurance to investors. The setback for the oil-rich but cash-poor nation came as no surprise, as the government of President Nicolas Maduro has missed payments on sovereign bonds as well as PDVSA debt, even as the population continues to suffer from […]
by Angelos Tzortzinis Agence France-Presse MANDRA, Greece (AFP) — Greece was in mourning Thursday as rescue crews tried to locate several people missing in a flood that killed 16 people near the capital, with more thunderstorms forecast until the weekend. Authorities said at least four people were still unaccounted for in Mandra, one of three towns about 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Athens hit by a freak flood early Wednesday. The latest victim, a 50-year-old man, […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Approximately 3,000 additional American troops have now been deployed to Afghanistan under President Donald Trump’s revised strategy for the war-torn country, the Pentagon said Thursday. The Pentagon had previously put the number of US forces in Afghanistan at 11,000 but Trump in August authorized an increase requested by the commander on the ground, General John Nicholson. “We’ve just completed a force flow into Afghanistan,” Joint Staff Director Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie told […]
ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin will next week host Turkish and Iranian counterparts Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hassan Rouhani for summit talks on Syria, Turkish state media said Thursday. The three presidents will meet at Putin’s official residence in the Black Sea resort of Sochi for talks on developments in Syria and the region on November 22, the Anadolu news agency said. © Agence France-Presse
HARARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) — Military vehicles were seen outside Zimbabwe’s parliament building and soldiers were seen patrolling the streets in Harare on Thursday (November 16). President Robert Mugabe is insisting he remains Zimbabwe’s only legitimate ruler, an intelligence source said on Thursday, and is resisting mediation by a Catholic priest to allow the 93-year-old former guerrilla a graceful exit after a military coup. The priest, Fidelis Mukonori, is acting as a middle-man between Mugabe and […]
BEIJING, China (AFP) — China denied Thursday that it has abandoned its long-standing proposal to ease the North Korean nuclear crisis after US President Donald Trump suggested Beijing had agreed to drop the policy. Beijing has long campaigned for a “dual track approach” in which the United States would halt military drills in the region while North Korea would freeze its weapons programmes. But Trump suggested Wednesday following his five-nation trip to Asia, which included […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — More than 50 people were injured and 1,500 taken to shelters in South Korea after a rare 5.4-magnitude quake hit the southeastern port of Pohang on Wednesday, officials said Thursday. The second-most powerful quake recorded in the South hit at a shallow depth of nine kilometers (six miles) on Wednesday afternoon, sparking alarm in a country that rarely experiences significant tremors. The quake, which was felt across the country including […]
