International

Pressure mounts on Catalan separatists after unity rallies

  by Daniel Silva and Diego Urdaneta Agence France-Presse BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) – Pressure mounted on Monday against Catalan plans to declare independence after hundreds of thousands of protesters rallied to defend Spanish unity. The protests followed days of soaring tensions after police cracked down on voters during a banned October 1 Catalan independence referendum, prompting separatist leaders to warn they would unilaterally break away from Spain in days. Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, who has yet to […]

Continue Reading →

At least 12 dead, scores missing in Rohingya capsize: officials

  COX’s BAZAR, Bangladesh (AFP) – At least 12 people died and scores were missing Monday after a boat packed with Rohingya refugees — many of them children — capsized, the latest tragedy to strike those fleeing violence in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. Coast guard and border guard officials said the boat was overloaded with about 100 people when it sank late Sunday in the mouth of the Naf river that separates Myanmar from Bangladesh. Border […]

Continue Reading →

Flags fly as Catalan crisis fans Spanish patriotism

by Alfons LUNA Agence France Pressse BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — In Spain the sight of countless red and yellow national flags was usually only seen at football stadiums — until Catalonia’s independence drive fanned the fires of patriotism this week. Despairing at what they see as dangerous Catalan nationalism, Spaniards opposed to secession wrapped themselves in the flag and demonstrated this weekend, chanting, “I am Spanish, Spanish, Spanish”. Catalan separatist leaders have threatened to declare […]

Continue Reading →

Trump sends Congress immigration legislation priorities

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump Sunday sent Congress his immigration legislation priorities, including building a controversial border wall, speeding up deportations and dramatically increasing the number of officials involved in enforcement. The administration tied these priorities to Democrats’ desire to provide legal protection to some 800,000 immigrants known as “Dreamers” who came to the country illegally as children and were covered by an amnesty brought by former President Barack Obama that […]

Continue Reading →

Alabama, Mississippi wake up to Nate’s storm damage

ALABAMA, United States (Reuters) — Resident of the southern U.S. states of Alabama and Mississippi woke up on Sunday (October 8) to asses the damage left overnight by Hurricane Nate as its winds rapidly weakened. Nate’s maximum sustained winds dropped to 45 miles per hour (70 km per hour) as it moved northeast into Alabama, prompting the National Hurricane Center to end its tropical storm warning for the region east of the Alabama-Florida border on […]

Continue Reading →

Turkey suspends all non-immigrant visa services at all diplomatic facilities in U.S.

WASHINGTON, United States (Reuters) — The Turkish embassy in Washington said on Sunday (October 8) it suspended all non-immigrant visa services at all Turkish diplomatic facilities in the United States, after U.S. missions reduced visa services in Turkey. “Recent events have forced the Turkish government to reassess the commitment of government of the United States to the security of Turkish mission facilities and personnel,” the statement by the embassy in Washington said. The decision came […]

Continue Reading →

Teacher who died saving kids in Brazil fire given award

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil’s President Michel Temer on Sunday honored a nursery school teacher who died while rescuing children from a blaze set deliberately by a security guard, killing nine people. Temer posthumously awarded the National Order of Merit to Heley de Abreu Silva Batista, who “gave her own life to save the lives of her students,” the presidency said in a statement. Batista, 43, worked at the nursery school in Janauba, […]

Continue Reading →

6.6-magnitude quake strikes off Alaska: USGS

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A strong 6.6-magnitude earthquake struck off the west coast of the US State of Alaska Sunday, seismologists said, but no tsunami warning was issued. The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake struck at a depth of 111.8 kilometers (69 miles) and 60 kilometers east of the remote Buldir Island in the Aleutian archipelago that is home to some 8,000 people. “Overall, the population in this region resides in […]

Continue Reading →

Anti-IS force says near ‘final’ week of Raqa fight

by Maya Gebeily and Gihad Darwish Agence France Presse RAQA, Syria (AFP) — US-backed fighters battling to oust the Islamic State group from Syria’s Raqa were nearing the “final week” of their assault, the campaign’s commander told AFP on Sunday. The Syrian Democratic Forces have captured around 90 percent of IS’s one-time bastion and are closing in on the jihadists in a pocket of territory near Raqa city centre. Captured by IS in 2014, the […]

Continue Reading →

U.S. VP Pence leaves NFL game after players kneel during anthem

INDIANA, United States (Reuters) — U.S. Vice President Mike Pence walked out of a National Football League game on Sunday (October 8) in his home state of Indiana after some players knelt during the national anthem, a form of demonstration that began last year as a symbolic protest about police violence against racial minorities. Pence was attending a game between the Indianapolis Colts and the San Francisco 49ers. Some players from the 49ers kneeled during […]

Continue Reading →

Japan’s Koike says her party offers centrist choice to voters

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) — Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said on Sunday (October 8) her new party aims to offer voters a “middle of the fairway” choice, seeking to differentiate her group from ruling, conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and smaller, left-leaning opposition parties. Koike’s Party of Hope has emerged as a formidable challenge to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) at the Oct. 22 election, promising to freeze a planned 2019 sales tax […]

Continue Reading →

Belarussian student becomes first-ever Miss Wheelchair World

WARSAW, Poland (AFP) — A psychology student from Belarus, Aleksandra Chichikova, was chosen Miss Wheelchair World in the first-ever edition of the beauty pageant held in Warsaw on Saturday. “Fight your anxiety and your fears,” the 23-year-old Chichikova said at a gala evening, after the contestants had presented themselves in national costumes and evening dresses in elaborate choreographies. Lebohang Monyatsi from South Africa was the runner-up ahead of Poland’s Adrianna Zawadzinska in the first contest […]

Continue Reading →
1 … 1,719 1,720 1,721 1,722 1,723 … 2,486