International

250 flood-hit northern France communities in state of disaster

SAINT-OMER, France, Nov 14, 2023 (AFP) – Around 250 municipalities in northern France will be declared in a state of natural disaster due to massive flooding, President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday as he visited affected areas fearing further rises in the water level. Communities in the Pas-de-Calais and Nord departments have suffered days of heavy rain, rivers breaking their banks and floods, and the water may rise further in the coming days before some residents […]

Brazil’s Lula says Israel response ‘as grave’ as Hamas attack

Brazil’s president on Monday accused Israel of “killing innocent people without any criteria” in the Gaza Strip, deeming its actions there “as grave” as the October 7 attacks by Palestinian militant group Hamas. “After the act of terrorism provoked by Hamas, the consequences, the solution of the state of Israel, is as grave as that of Hamas,” said Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva at a ceremony in Brasilia welcoming Brazilians and their families who had […]

Australian economist recounts ‘Kafkaesque’ time in Myanmar junta jail

SYDNEY, Australia, Nov 14, 2023 (AFP) – Days after Myanmar’s military ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in February 2021, an Australian economist working with her received an anonymous email telling him the police were watching his room and that he should flee. Sean Turnell, an economics professor at Macquarie University, was detained soon after, as the military launched a sweeping and bloody crackdown on democracy protests and those who had worked with Suu Kyi’s […]

North Korea slams G7’s nuclear denuclearization call, demands group’s dismantlement

SEOUL, Nov 14, 2023 (AFP) – North Korea on Tuesday slammed a joint statement by G7 foreign ministers that criticised the country’s nuclear programme, arguing the grouping of rich democracies should be “dismantled immediately”. In a statement issued last week, the top diplomats of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Britain, the United States and the European Union reiterated their longstanding call for the “complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula”. The G7 foreign ministers also demanded […]

At Biden’s ‘noodle diplomacy’ eatery, Chinese eye warming US ties

By Peter CATTERALL BEIJING, Nov 14, 2023 (AFP) – A humble restaurant on a Beijing street serving up a hearty dish of pork liver, lungs and intestines was once the site of an unconventional China-US rapprochement. On a 2011 visit, then US vice president Joe Biden went for lunch at Yaoji Chaogan, sparking a social media craze over his “noodle diplomacy”. Outside the eatery in one of the capital’s historic hutong neighbourhoods this week, Chinese […]

19 South Koreans rescued from captivity in Myanmar’s Golden Triangle

SEOUL, Nov 14, 2023 (AFP) – Nineteen South Koreans who were held captive in Myanmar have been rescued, Seoul’s foreign ministry said Tuesday, with a source from Myanmar’s main airport confirming the victims were flying home. South Korea has been working on its citizens’ release since being notified in early October that they had been detained by an unknown “illegal company” in Tachileik, which is situated in Myanmar’s Shan state near the border with Thailand. […]

Israeli tanks at gates of Gaza hospital, Biden urges care

By Adel Zaanoun with Sarah Benhaida in Jerusalem GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories, Nov 14, 2023 (AFP) – With tanks massed at the gates of Gaza’s largest hospital, US President Joe Biden pressed Israeli allies to protect civilians, who on Tuesday were trapped inside with dwindling supplies of fuel and water. After days of heavy air strikes around Gaza City’s Al-Shifa hospital, witnesses said tanks and armoured vehicles were metres from the gate of the besieged […]

Taiwan says China targeting Foxconn to influence presidential race

TAIPEI, Nov 14, 2023 (AFP) Taipei’s national security chief has said a Chinese tax probe into Taiwan tech giant Foxconn is “political”, as its billionaire founder Terry Gou is running for president of the democratically ruled island. Gou, who gave up Foxconn’s management reins four years ago, launched his presidential bid in August as an independent candidate in Taiwan’s January polls. Chinese state-run Global Times reported last month that Foxconn — one of the world’s […]

Indonesian president urges Biden to help end Gaza ‘atrocities’

By Danny KEMP WASHINGTON, Nov 13, 2023 (AFP) – Indonesian President Joko Widodo pressed US President Joe Biden during a visit to the White House on Monday to do more to end “atrocities” in Gaza and help bring about a ceasefire. The Israel-Hamas war overshadowed the talks, which had been meant to showcase an upgrade in ties between Indonesia and the United States ahead of Biden’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping this week. “Indonesia […]

US postpones Asia trade deal rollout after domestic fire

SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 14, 2023 (AFP) – President Joe Biden’s administration signaled Monday it would postpone a draft of an Asia trade pact that had been set to be unveiled at a summit in San Francisco, after facing domestic criticism. Biden, welcoming 20 other members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum to San Francisco where he will meet on the sidelines with Chinese President Xi Jinping, had been expected to announce substantial progress on […]

King Charles III celebrates 75th birthday

By Helen ROWE LONDON, Nov 14, 2023 (AFP) – Charles III turns 75 on Tuesday, showing no sign of a let-up in activity just over a year since he became king after the death of his mother Queen Elizabeth II. Halfway through his eighth decade, the British head of state is due to spend the day carrying out public engagements followed by a private dinner at his London residence. The lifelong environmentalist will use the […]

Biden urges protection of Gaza hospital as conditions worsen

By Adel Zaanoun with Sarah Benhaida in Jerusalem Hundreds of people stranded in Gaza’s biggest hospital were enduring “inhuman” conditions on Monday while heavy fighting raged around them, a doctor inside said, as US President Joe Biden urged Israel to “protect” the facility. Witnesses reported intense air strikes, with tanks and armoured vehicles just meters from the gate of Al-Shifa hospital, under which Israel argues Hamas has buried its military headquarters — a charge denied […]