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by Andrew Beatty Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – President Donald Trump hit back at critics within his own party Wednesday, painting them as outliers in what is otherwise a “love fest” between him and Republican lawmakers. A day after Republican senators Jeff Flake and Bob Corker described Trump as having a “flagrant disregard” for truth and decency and of “debasing” the nation, the combative president shot back. Trying to forestall a broader party backlash, Trump […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – President Donald Trump congratulated Xi Jinping on Wednesday, after the Chinese leader solidified his grip on power at a landmark Communist Party Congress. “Spoke to President Xi of China to congratulate him on his extraordinary elevation. Also discussed NoKo & trade, two very important subjects!” Trump tweeted after the call. The phone call came as Xi was formally handed a second term in power and his doctrine was written into the party […]
KANO, Nigeria (AFP) – At least six soldiers were killed in heavy fighting when Boko Haram raided a military base and looted food from villagers in northeast Nigeria, the military and locals said on Wednesday. Jihadists in six pick-up trucks stormed the base in Sasawa village, some 45 kilometers (28 miles) from the Yobe state capital, Damaturu, at about 5:00 pm on Tuesday. Colonel Kayode Ogunsanya told AFP from Damaturu: “There was an attack by Boko Haram […]
by Damian Wroclavsky Agence France-Presse BRASÍLIA, Brazil (AFP) – Brazil’s Congress rejected corruption charges against President Michel Temer on Wednesday, meaning he will not have to face trial and is free to pursue austerity reforms in Latin America’s biggest economy. The vote in the lower house threw out the charges just an hour after Temer, 77, was discharged from hospital where he was admitted earlier with a blocked urinary tract. Temer’s allies had been widely expected to […]
JUBA, South Sudan (AFP) – (Eagle News) – US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley on Wednesday was quickly escorted out of a UN camp she was visiting in South Sudan when protesters angry with President Salva Kiir turned up, officials said. Haley, the most senior US administration official to visit Africa, was in Juba to meet with South Sudanese civilians affected by the nearly four-year war and has traveled on to Kinshasa as part […]
by Marie Giffard with Mariette le Roux in Madrid BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — Catalonia appeared to be steering for a head-on clash with Spain Wednesday after its separatist leader snubbed senators in Madrid preparing to depose his independence-seeking government before week’s end. As pro-secession activists protested in Barcelona, Carles Puigdemont turned down an invitation to address legislators in the Spanish capital on his threat of a unilateral Catalan breakaway. His refusal left little hope that Spain’s move to […]
by Damian Wroclavsky Agence France-Presse BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazilian President Michel Temer was hospitalized Wednesday with urological problems in the midst of a rowdy congressional debate over whether he should be removed from office and face a corruption trial. The surprise news, which first leaked out in the Brazilian media before being confirmed by the presidency, added a note of drama to a day that had been widely seen as likely to go smoothly for Temer. “President […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump is poised to meet with top advisers and officially declare the opioid crisis in the United States a “national emergency,” he said on Wednesday. “We’re going to have a big meeting on opioids tomorrow,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “We’re going to be doing an important meeting sometime in the very near future on opioids in terms of declaring a national emergency, which gives us power to do […]
by Damian Wroclavsky © Agence France-Presse BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil’s lower house of Congress is due to vote Wednesday on whether President Michel Temer should stand trial for corruption — and the deeply unpopular center-right leader is expected to survive easily. The canny 77-year-old veteran of Brasilia’s notoriously corrupt political scene has struck a confident tone ahead of the vote, painting himself as needed at the helm of the country’s cautious recovery from a deep recession. The […]
by Ben Dooley Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — President Xi Jinping was formally reappointed head of the Communist Party Wednesday, commanding a new ruling council whose role will likely be eclipsed after he established himself as China’s most powerful leader in decades. In a highly choreographed event, Xi led the new members of the elite Politburo Standing Committee in front of television cameras at Beijing’s massive Great Hall of the People after their […]
LIMA, Peru (AFP) — The UN’s top human rights official on Tuesday suggested Peru should seek international medical opinion before any pardon is given to disgraced ex-president Alberto Fujimori. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein spoke to a Peruvian human rights legislative committee amid concerns that Fujimori, 79, who is jailed for human rights abuses, might win a pardon due to serious health problems. President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski has spoken publicly about the […]
by Jeremie Richard Agence France Presse REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AFP) — Iceland on Saturday holds its second snap election in just a year after a slew of scandals ensnaring its politicians in a nation whose economy is thriving thanks to tourism. Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson of the conservative Independence Party called the vote last month after a junior member of the three-party centre-right coalition quit the government over a legal scandal involving the prime minister’s father. […]
