Tag: politics

Trump set for Super Tuesday knockout in White House race

By Frankie Taggart with Romain Fonsegrives in Huntington Beach, California and Moises Avila in Houston, Texas WASHINGTON, March 6, 2024 (AFP) – Polls began closing Tuesday on the biggest day of the year for US presidential primaries, with Donald Trump expected to cement his hold on the Republican nomination and set up a rematch with President Joe Biden in November. “Super Tuesday” decides Republican and Democratic primaries in the giant states of California and Texas, […]

Vietnam property tycoon on trial in $12.5 billion fraud case

HO CHI MINH CITY, March 5, 2024 (AFP) – A top Vietnamese property tycoon went on trial Tuesday along with dozens of others, accused of embezzling $12.5 billion in the country’s biggest ever fraud case. Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, is said to have swindled the cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over the course of a decade, leaving unsuspecting investors out of pocket. Eighty-five others are also on trial […]

Japanese mayor resigns after 99 sexual harassment allegations, sparks social media outrage

TOKYO, March 1, 2024 (AFP) – The resignation of a Japanese mayor facing 99 allegations of sexual harassment sparked anger on social media on Friday, after he denied some cases and wept at a press conference. An official investigation accused Hideo Kojima, the mayor of a town in central Gifu region, of several incidents of harassment, including touching a colleague’s breasts and buttocks. The 74-year-old said Thursday he would quit, a day after wiping away […]

Mitch McConnell to step down as Republican leader in US Senate

By Camille CAMDESSUS WASHINGTON, Feb 28, 2024 (AFP) – Mitch McConnell, the powerful US political tactician who has advanced conservative causes for years and been a strong defender of aid to Ukraine, announced abruptly Wednesday that he would leave his post as leader of the Republicans in the Senate later this year. His speech to the chamber came as a surprise and prompted lawmakers from both parties to give him a standing ovation, though he […]

Iran defies West, launches imaging satellite from Russia

TEHRAN, Feb 29, 2024 (AFP) – Iran announced on Thursday the launch of a remote sensing and imaging satellite into orbit from Russia, according to state media. The launch of “Pars-I” with the Russian Soyuz-2.1b launcher was broadcast live by state television in Iran. The satellite was launched “from Russia’s Vostochny launch base”, some 8,000 kilometres (5,000 miles) east of Moscow, according to the official IRNA news agency. Iran’s telecommunications minister Issa Zareppur said “Pars-I” […]

New Tuvalu PM says focused on development, not Taiwan ties

FUNAFUTI, Tuvalu, Feb 29, 2024 (AFP) – Tuvalu’s new Prime Minister Feleti Teo says his government is focused on the “many key development priorities” facing his Pacific Island nation, not debates about Taiwan relations that have consumed outsiders. The government will “concentrate working on the key priorities of Tuvalu” he told a small group of media outlets, including AFP, on Wednesday. “Unless there are any major issues in that relationship”, he said it would not […]

New Tuvalu government reaffirms relations with Taiwan

FUNAFUTI, Tuvalu, Feb 28, 2024 (AFP) – Tuvalu’s new government on Wednesday vowed to keep up its “special” relationship with Taiwan, ending speculation that the Pacific island nation was poised to switch diplomatic recognition to Beijing. “The new government wishes to reaffirm its commitment to the long-term and lasting special relationship between Tuvalu and the Republic of China, Taiwan,” Prime Minister Feleti Teo’s government said in a statement of priorities. Tuvalu, with a population of […]

15 Chinese warplanes and 11 ships swarm Taiwan in 24 hours

Eleven Chinese naval vessels were detected around Taiwan, Taipei’s defence ministry said on Wednesday, the highest number this year as a row between the island and China over a fatal fishing boat incident drags on. A Chinese speedboat carrying four people capsized on February 14 near Taiwan’s Kinmen islands while being pursued by the Taiwanese coast guard, throwing all on board into the water. Two of the crew died and two others were rescued and […]

Cambodia ex-PM Hun Sen returns to frontline politics for senate seat

Cambodia’s ruling party claimed a landslide victory in Senate elections on Sunday, setting the stage for ex-PM Hun Sen to officially return to politics after he stepped down last year. After nearly four decades of hardline rule, Hun Sen handed power to his eldest son Hun Manet after national polls last July held without any significant opposition. Hun Sen at the time made it clear that despite his resignation, he still intended to wield influence. […]

“They’re blackmailing me”: Kremlin pressures Navalny’s mother for “secret burial”

The mother of Alexei Navalny, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s main opponent who died in an Arctic prison last week, said Thursday officials are pressuring her into a “secret” burial for her son. Lyudmila Navalnaya said she had been shown his body in the morgue in Salekhard, the nearest town to the remote prison, after several days of being barred from seeing her son. “Yesterday evening they secretly took me to the morgue where they showed […]

Reeling from Navalny’s death, Russian opposition vows to fight on

By Andrea PALASCIANO BERLIN, Feb 22, 2024 (AFP) – After the shock of Alexei Navalny’s death in an Arctic prison, Russian dissidents in exile are vowing to pick up the pieces and press on with their battle against President Vladimir Putin’s rule. “Of course we will cry in our bedrooms and bathrooms but publicly we’ll definitely continue fighting against the regime with all our methods,” Evgeny Nasyrov, coordinator of the Free Navalny campaign in Germany, […]

US congressman warns China of “bullying” in Taiwan visit

  TAIPEI, Feb 22, 2024 (AFP) – The chairman of the US House of Representatives committee on China accused Beijing of “bullying” Taiwan, as he arrived on the self-ruled island Thursday for talks with its leaders. Mike Gallagher heads a five-member delegation set to meet with the island’s top leadership, including President Tsai Ing-wen and Vice President Lai Ching-te, who won last month’s presidential election and will take office in May. “Time and again Taiwan […]