International

Beijing’s South China Sea outposts nearly set for missile deployment: report

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Three of Beijing’s outposts on contested South China Sea reefs are close to being ready for the deployment of military assets including mobile missile launchers, a United States think tank reported Thursday. Analyzing satellite photographs, the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative said Beijing’s Fiery Cross Reef base in the Spratly Islands now has 12 hardened shelters, four more than seen in February, with retractable roofs that can house missile launchers. At […]

Continue Reading →

Hong Kong residents react to Xi’s arrival

HONG KONG, China (Reuters) — Hong Kong residents expressed their thoughts and hopes on Friday (June 30) one day after China’s President Xi Jinping arrived in the territory for a visit. Some Hong Kong residents believe Xi’s visit is aimed at showing the sovereign power of China. Xi is on a three-day visit to Hong Kong, the former British colony, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its handover back to Chinese rule on July 1, […]

Continue Reading →

Chinese President Xi meets with HKSAR chief executive

CHINA (Reuters) — Chinese President Xi Jinping met with the outgoing chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Leung Chun-ying, on Thursday. Xi said the central government has fully acknowledged his work during his five-year tenure of office. Xi also met with senior representatives of the region’s executive, legislative and judicial bodies later on Thursday. Xi arrived in Hong Kong earlier on the same day for a three-day inspection tour. The president […]

Continue Reading →

Chinese PLA garrison troops in Hong Kong to be reviewed by President Xi Jinping

CHINA (Reuters) — The Chinese People’s Liberation Army garrison troops in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region are preparing for President Xi Jinping to review them on Friday. The troops entered the parade playground on Friday morning, waiting for the review. Xi arrived in Hong Kong on Thursday to start his three-day inspection tour to mark the 20th anniversary of the region’s return to the motherland.

Continue Reading →

US six-country travel ban takes effect with few exceptions for relatives

by Paul Handley Agence France-Presse  WASHINGTON DC, United States (AFP) – United States President Donald Trump’s ban on refugees and travelers from six mainly Muslim countries went into effect late Thursday, after a Supreme Court decision allowed it to go forward following a five-month battle with rights groups. The Trump administration says the temporary ban is necessary to block terrorists from entering the country, but immigrant advocates charge that it illegally singles out Muslims. The […]

Continue Reading →

Trump ‘proud’ of leaving Paris climate deal

WASHINGTON DC, United States (AFP) – United States President Donald Trump on Thursday strongly defended his decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord, declaring himself “proud” of the move. “In order to protect American jobs, companies and workers, we’ve withdrawn the United States from the one-sided Paris Climate Accord,” Trump said to applause, during a speech on the future of the US energy sector. “I will tell you we’re proud of it,” he […]

Continue Reading →

US sanctions Chinese bank for laundering North Korean cash

  by Heather Scott Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON DC, United States (AFP) – The United States slapped unprecedented sanctions Thursday on a Chinese bank accused of laundering North Korean cash after President Donald Trump said Beijing’s efforts to put the brakes on Pyongyang’s nuclear drive had failed. As South Korea’s new president visited Washington, the Treasury Department announced the Bank of Dandong would be severed from the US financial system for acting “as a conduit for […]

Continue Reading →

Trump welcomes South Korean President Moon Jae-in to the White House

WASHINGTON DC, United States (Reuters) – United States President Donald Trump welcomed newly-elected South Korean President Moon Jae-in to the White House on Thursday (June 29). The President and First Lady Melania Trump greeted the South Korean leader and his wife, Kim Jung-sook, at the White House South Lawn entrance. Reporters shouted to the President, asking questions about Donald Trump’s Twitter attack where he called an MSNBC anchor Mika Brzezinski “crazy” and alleged she had […]

Continue Reading →

Man tries to drive car into crowd in front of French mosque

CRETEIL, France (Reuters) – A man was arrested after he tried to drive a car into a crowd in front of a mosque in the Paris suburb of Creteil on Thursday (June 29), police said, adding that no one was injured. The man’s motives were unclear, and he had not succeeded in reaching the crowd because of barriers in front of the mosque, police said in a statement. An investigation, to be carried out by […]

Continue Reading →

Violence returns to Caracas after Venezuela coup claim

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) – A day after an alleged coup attempt in Venezuela, tensions boiled over anew on the streets of Caracas on Thursday (June 29) as youth angry at President Maduro’s upcoming constituent assembly faced off with riot police. Thursday’s heated protest comes just one day after Maduro said the nation that is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries  was the victim of a coup, feeding claims from the government that […]

Continue Reading →

Graft charge against Brazil’s president filed in Congress

BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil’s Supreme Court on Thursday sent a corruption charge against President Michel Temer to Congress for it to decide whether the president should be put on trial. Although just a formality, the handover of the case meant one more step forward in the growing crisis that threatens to bring down Temer just over a year after he took power following his predecessor’s impeachment. The center-right leader this week became the first […]

Continue Reading →

Top Catholic cardinal charged with sexual assault, brings taint of abuse to top of the Church

by Angus Mackinnon Agence France Presse VATICAN CITY (AFP) — Australia’s move to bring sexual assault charges against Cardinal George Pell is the latest chapter in a damaging saga of abuse that the Catholic church has struggled to draw a line under. Pell has been ordered to appear on July 18 before a Melbourne judge to answer unspecified multiple counts arising from his country’s extensive inquiry into decades of abuse in institutions dealing with children. […]

Continue Reading →
1 … 1,807 1,808 1,809 1,810 1,811 … 2,486