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by Richard Carter Agence France-Presse TOKYO, Japan (AFP) – Candidates in Japan made a last-ditch plea to voters Saturday on the last day of campaigning before an election expected to return Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to power with a comfortable majority. Polls show Abe and his conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) are clear favorites to win Sunday’s election, handing him a fresh mandate for his hardline stance on North Korea and “Abenomics” growth strategy. Abe’s coalition is […]
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP) – The United Nations faced criticism Friday after naming Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe a “goodwill ambassador” to promote health causes, despite the country’s dire health crisis under his rule. The UN World Health Organization (WHO) asked Mugabe to serve in the role to help tackle non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as heart attacks, strokes and asthma across Africa. Mugabe, 93, was in Uruguay for the announcement by WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who said he […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis thanked his French counterpart Friday for France’s assistance in the immediate aftermath of a Niger ambush that killed four US troops, as questions mounted in Washington about what happened. French warplanes flew overhead and armed helicopters evacuated the US wounded following the October 4 attack near the Mali border, which is thought to have been carried out by jihadists. The Pentagon chief has previously praised the less […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – President Donald Trump has signed an executive order allowing the Air Force to bring up to 1,000 pilots back to active duty as it grapples with an aviator shortage, the Pentagon said Friday. The Air Force has complained for years that it is struggling to retain pilots, who are often lured away by better-paying commercial airlines. Additionally, pilots often choose to leave the military due to the strains of extended deployments overseas. […]
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AFP) – A body recovered from a river bed in southern Argentina was that of a missing activist who disappeared two months ago during a police operation, his brother confirmed Friday. Santiago Maldonado, a 28-year-old tattoo artist, was last seen being detained by paramilitary police as they moved to disperse a protest march by the Mapuche indigenous group in Chabut, Patagonia on August 1. The case has embroiled President Mauricio Macri’s government in a […]
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Nearly 1,200 companies of all sizes have shifted their legal headquarters out of Catalonia to other parts of Spain since the region held a banned independence referendum, Spain’s commercial registrar said Friday. Between October 2, the day after the contested vote, and October 19 a total of 1,185 companies have relocated hoping to minimize instability, according to figures published by the Commercial Registries of Spain. The peak was reached on Thursday […]
KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — At least 10 people were killed when a gunman opened fire on worshippers in a Shiite mosque in Kabul on Friday as they gathered for evening prayers, officials said, the latest attack to hit the Afghan capital. An attacker “entered the mosque in Police District 13 of Kabul city… (and) opened fire on worshippers,” Kabul Crime Branch chief General Mohammad Salim Almas told AFP, describing the gunman as a suicide bomber. […]
by Andrew Beatty Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – White House chief of staff John Kelly — a former general whose son died in Afghanistan — made an emotive defense of Donald Trump Thursday, amid a scandal over the president’s phone call with a military widow. Kelly, who spent nearly four decades in the Marine Corps, said he had advised Trump not to call the families of four servicemen killed in Niger personally, but was disgusted […]
by Danny Kemp and Alice Ritchie Agence France-Presse BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) – British Prime Minister Theresa May pressed EU leaders Thursday for a Brexit deal she can “defend” at home as her counterparts said at a summit in Brussels that there were encouraging signs of progress in the talks. May appealed for “urgent” movement at a summit dinner, the night before her 27 counterparts were set to decide that there had not been enough progress on divorce […]
by Ella Ide Agence France-Presse ISCHIA, Italy – The threat of fresh attacks on the West by foreign fighters fleeing the fallen Islamic State stronghold of Raqa is set to dominate a G7 meeting of interior ministers in Italy. The two-day gathering, which kicked off Thursday on the Italian island of Ischia, comes just days after US-backed forces took full control of the jihadists’ de facto Syrian capital. Most foreign fighters are believed to have fled over the […]
ARBIL, Iraq (AFP) – The Iraqi Kurdish regional government said Thursday it was open to talks with Baghdad after central government forces seized a swathe of disputed territory from Kurdish fighters. “The cabinet welcomes the initiative of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on starting negotiations with the regional government to solve pending issues according to the constitution and principles of partnership,” it said in a statement. “Kurdistan demands the help and contribution of the international community in sponsoring this dialogue,” […]
by Laurence Boutreux Agence France-Presse MADRID, Spain – A far-left party which holds the balance of power in Catalonia’s parliament is using its influence to push for an immediate declaration of independence and launch a campaign of civil disobedience. With Spain threatening to seize some of the pro-independence Catalan government’s powers, the Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) party has deployed its preferred weapon: street agitation. The staunchly separatist and anti-capitalist party has called for protesters to gather Thursday […]
