BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) – A maternity hospital supported by Save the Children was bombed Friday in an air raid in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province, causing casualties and damage, the Britain-based charity said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said a jihadist from Al-Nusra Front, which has changed its name to Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, was killed in the raid. “Save the Children supported maternity hospital in #Idlib bombed, casualties reported – numbers unconfirmed,” the charity tweeted. […]
International
Turkish universities feel force of purge
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) – by Pascale TROUILLAUD With deans forced to resign and academics in custody or dismissed, Turkish universities are among the hardest-hit targets of the purge launched after the failed coup. Days after the attempted overthrow of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, authorities shut down 15 private universities and demanded that 1,577 deans resign — an earthquake for the higher education sector. Turkey has enforced a three-month state of emergency and is determined to […]
Clinton, Trump take White House fight to swing states
PHILADELPHIA, United States (AFP) – by Ivan Couronne with Jennie Matthew in New York Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on Friday take their fight for the White House to battleground states seeking to capitalize on back-to-back party conventions that offered starkly different visions of America. The Democrat and first woman nominee for a major party will tour Pennsylvania and Ohio by bus, while Trump jets to Colorado, where his plan to build a wall on the […]
US ties four Zika cases in Florida to local mosquitoes
MIAMI, United States (AFP) – by Kerry SHERIDAN Four cases of Zika virus in Florida are likely the first to be transmitted locally by mosquitoes in the United States, officials said Friday, marking a new phase in the fast-growing pandemic. Until now, more than 1,600 cases of Zika — which can cause birth defects — have been recorded in the mainland United States but most were brought in by people who had become infected […]
Clinton vows to be president for ‘all Americans’
PHILADELPHIA, United States (AFP) — Hillary Clinton on Thursday accepted the Democratic Party’s White House nomination, casting herself as a tireless champion of the people and rejecting Donald Trump’s dark picture of America. Becoming the first woman to win the nomination of a major political party, Clinton promised to be a president for “all Americans,” whether they voted for her or not. Making a bold play for the political center ground in an election year […]
Chelsea Clinton hails ‘wonderful, thoughtful, hilarious mother’
PHILADELPHIA, United States (AFP) — Chelsea Clinton on Thursday tried to lift the public veil on one of America’s best-known and most disliked politicians, telling the Democratic convention her mother, their presidential nominee, was “wonderful, thoughtful” and “hilarious.” Trying to soften a public image forged over decades of withering political trench warfare, Chelsea Clinton recounted a mother who read her “Goodnight Moon” and a grandmother who broke from politics to read “Chugga Chugga Choo Choo.” […]
Lava from Kilauea volcano reaches ocean for first time since 2013
Lava cascaded off of cliffs on Hawaii’s Big Island on Wednesday (July 27), marking the first time since 2013 that one of Kilauea’s lava flows reached the ocean. Lava from the volcano, located in Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, began erupting in late May and has been continuously moving on a six-mile journey towards the coast. Authorities have said the lava poses no threat to any towns, but have cautioned tourists to keep their distance. Despite […]
Meter-wide dinosaur print, one of largest ever, found in Bolivia
A footprint measuring over a meter wide that was made by a meat-eating predator some 80 million years ago has been discovered in Bolivia, one of the largest of its kind ever found. The print, which measures 1.2 meters (1.3 yards) across, probably belonged to the abelisaurus, a biped dinosaur that once roamed South America, said Argentine palaeontologist Sebastian Apesteguia, who is studying the find. The print was found some 64 kilometres (40 miles) outside […]
Key whistleblower in the Russian doping scandal, Yulia Stepanova, says she is not a traitor
Yulia Stepanova, the key whistleblower in the Russian doping scandal, said Thursday (July 28) she is not a traitor to her country. Her disclosure of state sponsored doping almost led to Russia being completely excluded from the Rio de Janeiro Games. “I don’t consider myself a traitor as they portray me in Russia. I think the traitors are those who have created the system. Those who give drugs to young athletes and ruining the future […]
British MP in China propaganda video ‘deeply concerned’
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — A British MP has complained about appearing in a video promoting Beijing’s claims in the disputed South China Sea, saying she was “deeply concerned” that her words had been misrepresented. Catherine West, a foreign affairs spokeswoman from the main opposition Labour Party specializing in the Asia-Pacific region, is briefly quoted in the video. The video shows white-sand beaches and crystal-blue waters, but conveniently omits images of the artificial islands Beijing […]
China, Russia to hold joint exercises in S China Sea: Beijing
by Ludovic EHRET BEIJING, China (AFP) — China and Russia will hold joint naval exercises in the South China Sea in September, Beijing’s defense ministry said Thursday, after an international tribunal invalidated the Asian giant’s extensive claims in the area. The drills will be carried out in the “relevant sea and air of the South China Sea”, defense ministry spokesman Yang Yujun told reporters at a monthly briefing. With international diplomatic tensions mounting and Washington […]
Trump to Republicans: ‘Don’t watch’ Democratic convention
PHILADELPHIA, United States (AFP) — Millions of Americans have tuned in to watch this month’s party conventions, with the Democratic confab ahead in the ratings — prompting Donald Trump’s Republicans to urge supporters not to watch Hillary Clinton’s landmark speech on Thursday night. Data compiled by ratings agency Nielsen show the Democratic event in Philadelphia outperforming the Republican convention in Cleveland all three nights so far. Clinton will accept the White House nomination later Thursday […]
