International

‘Last chance’ Syria ceasefire takes effect

by Karam al-Masri and Maher al-Mounes ALEPPO, Syria (AFP) — A US- and Russia-brokered ceasefire dubbed by Washington as maybe the “last chance to save Syria” took effect at sundown on Monday, amid scepticism over how long it would hold. An initial 48-hour truce came into force at 7:00 pm local time (1600 GMT) across Syria except in areas held by jihadists such as the Islamic State group. AFP correspondents in Syria’s devastated second city […]

N. Korea flood death toll rises to 133 with 395 missing: UN

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) – Severe flooding in a North Korean border region has killed at least 133 people with hundreds more missing, according to the UN, which said the scale of the disaster was “beyond anything experienced” by local officials. Some 107,000 people have been forced to flee their homes in the area along the Tumen River, the world body said in a statement received Monday which cited Pyongyang government figures. The North’s official media has described the […]

Libya unity govt loses third oil port to rivals

TRIPOLI, Libya (AFP) – by Mohamad Ali Harissi Libya’s UN-backed unity government lost control Monday of a third oil port seized by rival forces, raising fears of a major outbreak of fresh violence in the chaos-ridden country. The loss comes after fighters backing a rival administration in east Libya seized two other terminals from guards loyal to the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) on Sunday. All three Mediterranean ports are in Libya’s “oil crescent”, […]

MH370 ‘debris’ handed to Australian agency

CANBERRA, Australia (AFP) – An American amateur investigator handed possible debris from missing flight MH370 to Australian officials Monday and said several pieces were blackened by flames, raising the prospect of a flash fire onboard. Mystery has surrounded the fate of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 since it disappeared on March 8, 2014, carrying 239 passengers and crew on a routine flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The Boeing 777 is believed to have crashed in […]

N. Korea ready for another nuclear test

  Seoul, South Korea—North Korea has completed preparations for another nuclear test in a previously unused tunnel at its Punggye-ri site, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported Monday. The North on Friday conducted its fifth and most powerful atomic test, just eight months after its previous one. “We have detected signs that North Korea has finished preparations to conduct a nuclear test at any time in the third tunnel at its Punggye-ri test site,” Yonhap […]

Clinton diagnosed with pneumonia, ‘dehydrated’ at 9/11 event

  by Jennie Matthew with Anita Chang Beattie in Washington New York, United States  (AFP) — Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is suffering from pneumonia and was overheated and dehydrated when she quickly left a 9/11 memorial ceremony in New York on Sunday, her doctor said. The incident at Ground Zero, in which the 68-year-old Clinton seemed to lose her footing as she was helped into her vehicle, sparked new questions about her health — […]

Series of quakes hit Macedonia capital causing panic

  SKOPJE, Macedonia  (AFP) — A moderate 5.3-magnitude earthquake, preceded by two and followed by several tremors, struck the Macedonian capital Skopje on Sunday, causing panic but only minor damage, officials said. Skopje was almost destroyed by a powerful quake in 1963 which killed around a thousand people. Sunday’s quake hit at 3:10 pm (1310 GMT), with the epicentre in the Skopje area, seismologists said, adding some 10 weaker tremors were later registered. “In Skopje and […]

Turkey ousts 28 mayors

Istanbul, Turkey—Turkey on Sunday removed 28 mayors accused of links to Kurdish militants or United States-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, using emergency powers to replace them with state-appointed trustees in a move that sparked accusations of trampling on democracy. The mayors have been suspended from their posts on suspicion of links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which is waging a deadly insurgency in the southeast, or Gulen, who is blamed for the July 15 failed […]

U.S. honors 9/11 victims 15 years after attacks

  (REUTERS)  Americans commemorated the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on Sunday with the recital of the names of the dead, tolling church bells and a tribute in lights at the site where New York City’s massive twin towers collapsed. The names of the 2,983 victims were read slowly by relatives as classical music played during a ceremony at the 9/11 Memorial plaza in lower Manhattan with pauses for six moments of […]

France’s premier warns of new attacks, 15,000 people on police radar

  (REUTERS)  French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said on Sunday there would be new attacks in France but proposals by former president Nicolas Sarkozy to boost security was not the right way to deal with threats. The French capital was put on high alert last week when French officials said they dismantled a “terrorist cell” that planned to attack a Paris railway station under the direction of Islamic State. “This week at least two attacks […]

North Korea says sanctions push after nuclear test ‘laughable’

  (REUTERS) North Korea said on Sunday a push for further sanctions following its fifth and biggest nuclear test was “laughable”, and vowed to continue to strengthen its nuclear power. The isolated state on Friday set off its most powerful nuclear explosion to date, saying it had mastered the ability to mount a warhead on a ballistic missile, ratcheting up a threat that its rivals and the United Nations have been powerless to contain. A […]

China, Russia naval drill in South China Sea to begin Monday

  (REUTERS)  China and Russia will hold eight days of naval drills in the South China Sea off southern China’s Guangdong province starting from Monday, China’s navy said. The exercises come at a time of heightened tension in the contested waters after an arbitration court in The Hague ruled in July that China did not have historic rights to the South China Sea and criticized its environmental destruction there. China rejected the ruling and refused […]