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SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — The death toll from California’s wildfires rose to 33 on Friday as firefighters made some progress in containing the infernos but said intensifying winds were a concern. “We’re not out of this emergency, not even close,” said Mark Ghilarducci, director of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. “But we are seeing some progress in areas the fires have impacted,” Ghilarducci told a news conference. “We’ll get ahead of […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Friday that Washington is working to reduce tensions between Iraqi federal and Kurdish forces, urging them to remain focused on the war against jihadists. “We are trying to tone everything down and to figure out how we go forward without losing sight of the enemy, and at the same time recognizing that we have got to find a way to move forward,” he told […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump is “creating an international crisis” with his “dangerous” decision to decertify the Iran nuclear deal, John Kerry, the former Secretary of State who negotiated the agreement, said Friday. “It endangers America’s national security interests and those of our closest allies,” Kerry said of the move by Trump, who has long criticized the agreement, which is aimed at curbing Tehran’s nuclear program. In a speech pocked with grievances […]
by Abdallah Ibrahim Agence France-Presse KIRKUK, Iraq – Iraqi forces Friday retook positions controlled by Kurdish peshmerga fighters since 2014 in the oil-rich province of Kirkuk amid a bitter row with the Kurds over a vote for independence last month. A senior Kurdish official said thousands of heavily armed fighters had been deployed to defend themselves “at any cost” against the Iraqi operation and called for international intervention. Ethnically divided but historically Kurdish-majority Kirkuk is one of […]
by Patrick Galey and Adrien Vicente Agence France-Presse MADRID, Spain –Catalonia’s independence drive has sent dozens of firms fleeing as doubts grow over the economy of a region that, while one of Spain’s richest, is also deeply indebted and dependent on trade with the EU and the rest of Spain. The semi-autonomous region accounts for one fifth of national GDP and is Spain’s largest exporter, but as the country’s worst political crisis in a generation drags on […]
by Andrew Beatty and Dave Clark Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States – President Donald Trump launched a tougher strategy to check Iran’s “fanatical regime” on Friday and warned that a landmark international nuclear deal could be terminated at any time. In a much-anticipated White House speech, Trump stopped short of withdrawing from the 2015 accord, but “decertified” his support for the agreement and left its fate in the hands of Congress. And, outlining the results of a review […]
by Damon Wake Agence France-Presse BRUSSELS, Belgium – Military intervention against North Korea would have “devastating consequences,” NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned Friday, after US President Donald Trump said diplomatic efforts had failed. Tensions over North Korea’s weapons programs have soared in recent months, with Pyongyang launching a flurry of missiles and conducting its sixth and most powerful nuclear test last month in defiance of international sanctions. Trump’s continued threats of military action against Pyongyang to tame its […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — Ousted South Korean president Park Geun-Hye will be kept in detention for a further six months, a Seoul court ruled Friday, as she stands trial in a corruption case that toppled her from power. The sprawling scandal involving the former leader and her powerful secret confidante, Choi Soon-Sil, unleashed massive nationwide protests last year and has exposed networks of privilege among the country’s business and political elite. Park, 65, […]
by Joshua Howat Berger Agence France-Presse MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — The leaders of Canada and Mexico stuck to their upbeat view on the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement on Thursday, despite US President Donald Trump’s threats to axe it. Visiting Mexico on the heels of a tense trip to Washington, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau downplayed Trump’s attacks on NAFTA as part and parcel of the negotiations on updating the 23-year-old accord. “We […]
HANOI, Vietnam (AFP) — The death toll from devastating floods and landslides in north and central Vietnam has jumped to 54, officials said Friday, in one of the deadliest weather disasters to hit the country in years. Rescuers were desperately searching for 39 people still missing after heavy rains pounded several provinces this week, with forecasters warning of another major storm heading toward the country. This week’s catastrophes destroyed thousands of properties and wiped out swathes of […]
by Julie Charpentrat Agence France-Presse SANTA ROSA, United States (AFP) — The death toll from raging California wildfires rose to 31 Thursday as body recovery teams used cadaver dogs to locate victims, making it the deadliest series of blazes in the state’s history. The fires, which began on Sunday, have swept through California’s wine country, leaving thousands of people homeless and burning over 190,000 acres (76,000 hectares) of land. Gusty winds on Thursday were hampering the efforts […]
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — A shallow 2.9-magnitude earthquake struck near North Korea’s nuclear test site before dawn on Friday, weeks after Pyongyang’s biggest detonation, but South Korean experts said the tremor did not appear to be man-made. The tremor hit at 01:41 am (1641 GMT Thursday) with a depth of around five kilometres (three miles), the US Geological Survey said, with the epicentre located north of the Punggye-Ri testing site. “This event occurred in […]
