WARRI, Nigeria (AFP) – Hundreds of protestors stormed a Nigerian facility owned by Chevron on Wednesday demanding better jobs and forcing staff to be airlifted out, community leaders said. Protestors from Ugborodo village, which is close to Chevron’s Escravos terminal, want the company to relocate more of its Nigerian offices to the southern Delta state to secure work for people living in the oil-producing swamplands. “Our people are casual workers in their own land,” Collins […]
International
Saudi-led jets hit Yemen despite concerns
SANAA, Yemen (AFP) – Saudi-led coalition warplanes launched fresh air strikes against Shiite rebels across Yemen Wednesday despite international concerns over the escalation after the suspension of peace talks. The coalition resumed strikes days after UN-brokered peace talks in Kuwait between representatives of the government and the Iran-backed Huthi rebels ended without a breakthrough. The coalition, which has been battling to prop up Yemen’s government against the Huthis since March 2015, hit rebel positions across […]
Twin PKK bomb attacks kill eight in southeast Turkey: official
DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (AFP) – by Mahmut BOZARSLAN At least eight people, mostly civilians, were killed on Wednesday in two separate bomb attacks targeting police blamed on Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants in Turkey’s southeast, officials said. Five people, all civilians, were killed in a car bomb attack in the centre of the city of Diyarbakir, the regional governor’s office said in a statement. Twelve people were wounded including five police, it added. Another three people […]
Tropical storm Earl kills 46 in Mexico
PUEBLA, Mexico (CCTV) — Tropical storm, Earl has left thousands of families affected by flooding and at least 46 dead as of Sunday in Mexico. Victims include 33 in the state of Puebla and 13 in Veracruz. The country’s civil protection authorities have said that rescue and relief work is still underway. According to the Puebla authorities, the most affected region in the state is Sierra Norte in the municipality of Huauchinango. The rainfall in […]
Out-of-control California wildfire grows, forces schools to close
SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, California, United States (Reuters) — A wildfire burning out of control in mountains and foothills east of Los Angeles mushroomed more than 50 percent overnight, forcing authorities to order three school districts to cancel classes due to heavy smoke and dangerous conditions. More than 900 firefighters were battling the so-called Pilot Fire, which has charred some 7,500 acres of bone-dry tinder and brush in the San Bernardino Mountains since it broke out […]
Pokemon players anger Khmer Rouge prison survivors
Phnom Penh, Cambodia (AFP) — Survivors of the Khmer Rouge hit out at Pokemon Go players on Wednesday after they flocked to one of the regime’s notorious prisons — now a museum to Cambodia’s brutal genocide — to catch digital monsters. The mobile app was made available in Cambodia on Saturday alongside a host of other Southeast Asian nations, with fans flocking to well known landmarks in recent days. But the game — which encourages […]
Olympics: Gunfire feared in Olympic bus attack
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — A bus carrying Rio Olympics journalists came under attack Tuesday and police were investigating whether bullets were fired from the notorious City of God favela. Rio 2016 organisers said two journalists suffered slight injuries in the attack, which set off a new Olympic jitters four days after a bullet hit a Games media centre. Journalists in the bus hurled themselves to the floor after two windows were blown out. […]
Ex-Philippine leader to meet Beijing contacts on ice-breaking trip
HONGKONG, China (AFP) — Former Philippine leader Fidel Ramos said Tuesday he would meet contacts with links to Chinese President Xi Jinping during a trip to Hong Kong intended to improve ties between Manila and Beijing. Relations have cooled since a UN-backed tribunal ruled last month that China’s claims over most of the South China Sea were invalid, in a sweeping victory for the Philippines which brought the case. Ramos — a longtime advocate of […]
Brazil Senate debates opening impeachment end game
BRASILIA, BRAZIL (AFP) – by Damian WROCLAVSKY Brazil’s Senate on Tuesday debated before voting on whether to send suspended president Dilma Rousseff to an impeachment trial, bringing the Olympic host country’s political crisis to a climax. At the start of the marathon session, Supreme Court President Ricardo Lewandowski reminded senators that they were about to “exercise one of the most serious tasks under the constitution.” The Senate speaker, Renan Calheiros, also underlined the seriousness of […]
Anti-Trump wave courses through Republican ranks
WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES (AFP) – by Michael Mathes More Republicans broke ranks Tuesday with their party’s White House nominee Donald Trump, issuing dire warnings that his recklessness and lack of policy chops would put the United States in danger. Facing sinking poll numbers and anger in the party over his repeated stumbles and divisive rhetoric, Trump’s campaign has struggled to turn the page from a strong grassroots primary effort to a more mature head-to-head battle […]
Thousands flee fierce fighting in Afghanistan’s Helmand
KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) – by Mamoon Durrani Fierce fighting in Helmand has sent thousands of Afghans fleeing to the capital of the southern opium-rich province, sparking a humanitarian crisis as Taliban insurgents besiege the city despite intensified US air strikes. The Taliban advance on Lashkar Gah has compounded fears that the city was on the brink of falling into insurgent hands, even as US and Afghan officials insist that they will not allow another urban […]
Air strikes near Damascus cause multiple casualties – monitoring group
DARAYA, Syria (Reuters) — Air strikes by the Syrian government or its Russian allies hit rebel territories in the Damascus suburbs on Monday (August 8), resulting in “many” casualties, a monitoring group has said. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported warplanes and helicopters launched raids across Damacus’s east and western suburbs, known as the Ghouta. The exact number of those killed or injured is unknown, but at least one man was killed in […]
