Tag: politics

Fresh clashes over India law, death toll hits 14

  NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Fresh deadly clashes between Indian police and demonstrators erupted on Friday after more than a week of unrest triggered by a citizenship law seen as anti-Muslim, as thousands rallied at the nation’s biggest mosque. Three protesters were shot dead on Thursday and police said another was killed in clashes in Uttar Pradesh state Friday. Four new protesters have died in fresh clashes with police in northern India, a medical […]

Indian lawmaker gets life for raping teen in landmark case

  NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — An Indian lawmaker was sentenced to life Friday for raping a teenager whose plight police ignored until she tried to set herself on fire, in a case highlighting the impunity often enjoyed by the powerful. The day after she did so last year her father died in police custody, with the family alleging he was tortured for pursuing the case. Later she was critically injured in a suspicious car […]

Ukraine says Trump impeachment ‘internal US issue’

  KIEV, Ukraine (AFP) — Ukraine on Thursday brushed off the impeachment of Donald Trump an a US “internal issue”, despite the process being triggered by a telephone conversation between the American leader and his Ukrainian counterpart. Trump was impeached on Wednesday by the House of Representatives for abuse of power over the July conversation with President Volodymyr Zelensky. “Ukraine does not interfere in the internal affairs of any state,” Zelensky’s spokeswoman Yuliya Mendel told […]

Hong Kong police freeze HK$70 million in protest fund

HONG KONG, China (AFP) — Hong Kong police on Thursday said they had frozen HK$70 million ($10 million) from a major fund for donations to help pro-democracy protesters, and arrested its four members for money laundering. Police said their investigation focused on Spark Alliance, a non-profit online platform formed in 2016 that collects donations to provide support to political critics of the city’s pro-Beijing authorities. It is one of two crowd-sourced funding platforms that have […]

Russian President Putin says US President Trump’s impeachment based on ‘made-up grounds’

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said that the impeachment of Donald Trump was based on “made-up” grounds, adding he did not believe it marked the end of the US president. “It still needs to go through the Senate, where the Republicans have a majority,” Putin said after the House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump for abuse of power. “And it is hardly likely that they are going to push […]

Impeachment vote set for Wednesday as Trump rages

by Paul Handley and Sebastian Smith Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — An enraged US President Donald Trump said he was being subjected to an “attempted coup” and a witch trial as Democrats set a historic impeachment vote for Wednesday. In an extraordinarily angry six-page letter, Trump on Tuesday told Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the Democratic-led House of Representatives, that “history will judge you harshly.” Referring to a famous miscarriage of justice and […]

Thousands sign Hiroshima petition to save A-bomb buildings

TOKYO Japan (AFP) — Thousands of people have signed an online petition against the planned demolition of two early 20th-century buildings that remained intact after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima devastated the Japanese city. A local government official confirmed to AFP on Tuesday they had received the petition signed by 12,000 citizens calling for the preservation of the buildings that stand 2.7 kilometres (2 miles) from the 1945 blast. The three-storey red-brick buildings are part […]

North Korea conducts ‘crucial test’ at Sohae launch site: KCNA

  SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea has conducted another “crucial test” at its Sohae satellite launch site, state media reported, as nuclear negotiations between Pyongyang and Washington remain stalled with a deadline approaching. The announcement Saturday comes one day before US Special Envoy on North Korea Stephen Biegun is set to arrive in Seoul for a three-day visit, and after the United States tested a medium-range ballistic missile over the Pacific Ocean on […]

China gives Hong Kong leader ‘unwavering support’

  BEIJING, China (AFP) — China’s premier told beleaguered Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam on Monday that she had Beijing’s “unwavering support” after a huge rally earlier this month and her government’s thrashing at recent local elections. The city has been upended by six months of massive pro-democracy protests that have seen violent battles between police and hardcore demonstrators, as well as regular transport disruption. Protesters have called for the unpopular Lam to stand down […]

Six dead in protests against Indian citizenship law

    by Jalees Andrabi  / Anup Sharma / with Sailendra Sil in Kolkata GUWAHATI, India (AFP) — The death toll from violent protests in northeast India against a contentious citizenship law has risen to six, officials said Sunday, as authorities maintained internet bans and curfews to quell unrest. Tension remained high at the epicenter of the unrest in Assam state’s biggest city, Guwahati, with troops patrolling the streets in vehicles amid tight security. Some […]

94-year old Malaysian PM Mahathir again hints he could stay on beyond 2020

  DOHA, Qatar (AFP) — Malaysia’s 94-year-old Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad again raised the prospect on Saturday that he could stay in office beyond 2020, declining to give a definitive pledge to step down. Mahathir returned to power last year after dealing a historic election defeat to the corruption-plagued coalition that he once led and which had been in power for six decades. Mahathir led Malaysia for more than two decades before his retirement in […]

Greenland ice loss faster than expected

by Bryan McManus Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — The melting of Greenland’s massive ice sheet is happening much faster than expected and could put millions more people at risk by the end of the century, scientists warned Tuesday. Up to three kilometres thick (two miles) in some places, Greenland has lost 3.8 trillion tonnes of ice since 1992, enough on its own to add 10.6 millimetres (1.06 centimetres, 0.4 inches) to sea levels, according […]