Tag: politics

One year on, Trump leads divided US into government shutdown

by Dave Clark Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump marked the first anniversary of his inauguration Saturday with his government in shutdown, accusing Democrats of taking Americans hostage with their demands. From midnight Friday, in the absence of an agreed spending plan, federal services began to come to a halt or be scaled back, even as lawmakers continued to argue on the floor of the Senate. Essential services and military activity […]

Pardoned Peru ex-president leaves hospital

by Roberto Cortijo  Agence France-Presse LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Alberto Fujimori, Peru’s pardoned former president who was until recently serving a 25-year sentence for human rights abuses, was discharged from hospital Tuesday after receiving treatment for cardiac arrhythmia. Fujimori, 79, was hospitalized at the end of last year and treated for various ailments. “He is under careful medical observation,” his doctor Alejandro Aguinaga told AFP. Aguinaga said Fujimori was given a Holter monitor that records “everything that […]

Trump’s doctor says president ‘healthy,’ has no cognitive issues

by Jerome Cartillier Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Donald Trump is expected to remain physically fit for the duration of his presidency and has “no cognitive issues whatsoever,” according to full results from his first medical examination released Tuesday. Trump’s critics have openly questioned his mental health, and an explosive book on his presidency published earlier this month described aides as having doubts about his fitness for office. “All data indicates the president is healthy […]

Pro-separatist Catalan parties back ex-leader for top job

BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — The two largest pro-independence parties in Catalonia said Tuesday they had agreed to nominate sacked regional leader Carles Puigdemont for president, despite his self-imposed exile in Belgium and Madrid’s insistence he cannot rule remotely. The separatist ERC and Puigdemont’s Together for Catalonia party reached an accord to support him “as a candidate for president of the Catalonia region,” a joint statement said. The central government in Madrid has warned it would maintain direct […]

Eight bodies found as ‘North Korean’ boat washes up in Japan

  TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Eight bodies have been recovered from a wrecked boat that washed ashore in central Japan, authorities said Tuesday, suspecting the vessel is the latest in a series of North Korean “ghost ships.” Coastguard rescuers found the corpses of seven men inside the wreckage of the boat that washed up in Kanazawa, central Japan, last week, senior police official Hiroshi Abe told AFP. The badly decomposed remains of another man were […]

East-west clash as Czechs vote for new president

by Jan FLEMR Agence France-Presse PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AFP) — Czech President Milos Zeman appeared Saturday to be heading for a run-off as voting began on day two of a presidential election pitting the pro-Russian incumbent against a flock of more liberal pro-European rivals. Opinion surveys show the divisive 73-year-old ex-communist, who is also staunchly anti-Muslim and pro-Chinese, leading the pack of nine candidates ahead of Jiri Drahos, 68-year-old pro-European former head of the Czech […]

UK blames protests as Trump cancels London trip

by Alice Ritchie © Agence France-Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The British government blamed the threat of mass protests for President Donald Trump’s decision Friday to cancel a visit to London to open the new US embassy, and warned that criticism of the White House risked harming US-UK relations. Trump said he was abandoning next month’s trip because he did not like the location and cost of the new embassy building. But Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson […]

Hurricane-hit Puerto Rico launches new drive for US statehood

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico on Wednesday launched a new drive to become the 51st US state, with the island’s governor demanding an end to “second-class” treatment of its citizens. Puerto Rico’s more than three million residents are US citizens, with no obstacles to living and working on the mainland. Yet the US commonwealth in the Caribbean has just a non-voting delegation in the US Congress in Washington, and Puerto Rico residents […]

Trump says US could ‘conceivably’ return to Paris climate deal

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the United States could “conceivably” return to the Paris climate accord, although he stopped short of signalling any move in that direction. “Frankly, it’s an agreement that I have no problem with, but I had a problem with the agreement that they signed, because, as usual, they made a bad deal,” Trump told a news conference. “So we can conceivably go back in,” […]

Indonesian President Joko Widodo to visit India

(Eagle News) — Indonesian president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo will once again visit India this year. The Indonesian leader’s visit is slated before the end of January, in time for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations-India Commemorative Summit on the 25th of this month, and India’s Republic Day Parade the following day. The visit aims to strengthen the two countries’ strategic partnership. Once in New Delhi, President Widodo is expected to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra […]

Mahigit 1,000 nawalang armas sa PNP na umano’y ipinagbili sa NPA, iimbestigahan ng NBI

(Eagle News) — Ipinag-utos ng Departmet of Justice (DOJ) sa National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) na imbestigahan ang isyu ng nawalang mahigit 1,000 armas sa Philippine National Police (PNP) headquarters na sinasabing ibinenta sa New People’s Army (NPA) sa Mindanao. Ang kautusan ay inilabas ni Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II kasunod ng direktiba mismo ni Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte. Sa Department Order No. 007 na pirmado ni Aguirre, inatasan din ang NBI na mag-case build up. […]

S. Korea to stick with Japan ‘comfort women’ deal

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea will not seek to renegotiate a deal with Japan on wartime sex slavery, it said Tuesday, despite new President Moon Jae-In saying on the campaign trail he “could not accept” the agreement. The issue of women forced into sexual slavery for Japanese troops during World War II is a hugely emotional one that has long marred ties between the South and its former colonial ruler. Ousted president Park […]