Tag: politics

Malawi VP, nine others, killed in plane crash

LILONGWE, Malawi, June 11, 2024 (AFP) – Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima was killed in a plane crash, the nation’s president said on Tuesday, after searchers located the wreckage of the aircraft in a mist-shrouded forest. The military plane carrying Chilima, 51, and nine others disappeared on Monday, after it failed to land in the northern city of Mzuzu due to bad weather and was told to return to the capital, Lilongwe. Photographs shared with […]

Biden’s son convicted on all charges in gun case

By Ryan Collerd with Chris Lefkow in Washington WILMINGTON, United States, June 11, 2024 (AFP) – A jury found Hunter Biden guilty on Tuesday of federal gun charges in a historic first criminal prosecution of the child of a sitting US president. The 54-year-old son of President Joe Biden was convicted on all three of the felony counts stemming from his 2018 purchase of a handgun while addicted to crack cocaine. The verdict comes as […]

India’s Modi sworn in as prime minister

By Peter MARTELL NEW DELHI, June 9, 2024 (AFP) – India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was sworn in on Sunday for a third term after worse-than-expected election results left him reliant on coalition partners to govern. Modi’s Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled outright for the past decade but failed to repeat its previous two landslide wins this time around, defying analysts’ expectations and exit polls. He was instead forced into quick-fire talks with the […]

Gantz quits Israel war cabinet as Gaza conflict rages

By Jay Deshmukh and Mark Anderson JERUSALEM, June 9, 2024 (AFP) – Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz quit Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government on Sunday, heaping domestic pressure on the Israeli leader as the war in Gaza rages. The former general and defence minister announced his resignation from the emergency body after failing to get a post-war plan for Gaza approved by Netanyahu, which he demanded in May. The centrist politician’s departure is not […]

Hong Kong arrests three for ‘insulting’ anthem at World Cup qualifier

HONG KONG, June 7, 2024 (AFP) – Three people were arrested for turning their backs and remaining seated when China’s national anthem was played prior to Hong Kong’s home World Cup qualifier against Iran, police said Friday. Football fans in Hong Kong used to boo the national anthem as a show of political discontent, but the government in 2020 banned the practice as part of a wider crackdown following huge democracy protests in the city. […]

Modi celebrates victory in India vote, but falls short of landslide

By Abhaya SRIVASTAVA NEW DELHI, June 4, 2024 (AFP) – India’s Hindu nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed election victory for his party and its allies on Tuesday, but the opposition said they had “punished” the ruling party to confound predictions and reduce their parliamentary majority. Commentators and exit polls had projected an overwhelming victory for Modi, whose campaign wooed the Hindu majority to the worry of the country’s 200-million-plus Muslim community, deepening concerns over […]

Jailed Pakistan ex-PM Khan acquitted of leaking state secrets

ISLAMABAD, June 3, 2024 (AFP) – A Pakistan high court on Monday overturned a treason conviction against jailed former prime minister Imran Khan, months after his party was sidelined in a general election. The conviction was one of three slapped on Khan in the runup to February polls — cases he claims were orchestrated to prevent his return to power. The 71-year-old remains jailed on other charges that his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party are challenging. […]

Biden’s son Hunter stands trial on gun charge

By Ryan Collerd WILMINGTON, United States, June 3, 2024 (AFP) – Hunter Biden, the long-troubled son of Joe Biden, went on trial Monday on gun charges in a historic first prosecution of a sitting president’s child — and potential threat to his father’s reelection. The only surviving son of President Biden, Hunter Biden is charged with lying about his illegal drug use when buying a handgun in 2018, a felony. The 54-year-old arrived in court […]

Tiananmen crackdown ‘will not disappear in the torrent of history’: Taiwan president

TAIPEI, June 4, 2024 (AFP) – Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said on Tuesday that the memory of Beijing’s deadly crackdown at Tiananmen Square “will not disappear in the torrent of history” in a post marking the event’s 35th anniversary. Discussion of the crackdown at Tiananmen Square on June 4, 1989 is highly sensitive for China’s communist leadership, and any mention of it is strictly censored on the mainland. But self-ruled Taiwan commemorates the date with […]

Claudia Sheinbaum makes history as Mexico’s first woman president

By Daniel Rook and Yussel Gonzalez MEXICO CITY, June 3, 2024 (AFP) – Claudia Sheinbaum was elected Mexico’s first woman president by a landslide Sunday, making history in a country plagued by rampant criminal and gender-based violence. Flag-waving supporters sang and danced to mariachi music in celebration of the ruling party candidate’s victory, in a nation where around 10 women or girls are murdered every day. “I want to thank millions of Mexican women and […]

Trump campaign announces $53 mn raised after conviction

WASHINGTON, June 1, 2024 (AFP) – Donald Trump’s campaign said Friday it had raised nearly $53 million in online small-dollar donations after he was convicted in his New York hush money trial, boasting that the verdict had galvanized his support “like never before.” The record haul was equivalent to more than $2 million raised per hour, it said. Senior campaign aides Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said in statements that more than a third of […]

Taiwan parliament passes controversial bills despite protest

TAIPEI, May 29, 2024 (AFP) – Taiwan’s parliament passed a package of controversial bills on Tuesday to expand its power as thousands of disapproving protesters rallied outside and chanted “defend democracy”. Proponents say expanded parliamentary powers are needed to curb corruption but critics fear the laws could weaken the self-ruled island’s democracy against the influence of China, which claims it as part of its territory. New Taiwan President Lai Ching-te represents the Democratic Progressive Party […]