WORLD

Washington, United States | AFP | The US Senate passed a $15.25 billion relief package Thursday for victims of Hurricane Harvey, in an effort to fully fund federal emergency operations as another potentially catastrophic storm bears down on Florida. The package passed 80 to 17 one day after President Donald Trump …

Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Israel’s defence minister on Thursday issued a veiled warning to Syria, without confirming or denying what Damascus said was an Israeli air strike on its territory. Syria’s army accused Israel of hitting one of its positions, killing two people in an attack earlier the same day …

  Beijing, China | AFP |  China’s air force conducted military drills in seas adjacent to the Korean peninsula, an official report has said, as tensions soared over North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weaponry. The defence battalion simulated warding off a “low-altitude, surprise” attack off China’s east coast, and practised …

Beijing, China | AFP | China’s President Xi Jinping told Donald Trump Wednesday that Beijing remains committed to denuclearising North Korea as the US president warned again that any Pyongyang threat would trigger an “overwhelming” response. In a phone call with Trump, Xi also said China remains firm in its …

Rome, Italy | AFP |  A four-year old girl has died of malaria after apparently contracting the disease in northern Italy in a case that has perplexed the medical world, doctors said Tuesday. “I’ve never seen a case like it, it’s a mystery. It shouldn’t have been possible for her …

Francis’s 12-hour journey from Rome was the first time the pope’s words have been reported direct from his plane. Bogota, Colombia | AFP | Pope Francis landed in Colombia Wednesday to promote peace after decades of war. Here are three highlights from day one of the Argentine pope’s fifth papal …

  Mexico City, Mexico | AFP |  Mexico condemned US President Donald Trump’s decision to end an amnesty for thousands of people brought illegally to the United States as children, expressing “deep worry” for the uncertainty they now face. “Mexico deeply regrets the cancellation” of the program known as DACA, …

  Berlin, Germany | AFP | A German intelligence agent said he pretended to be a jihadist planning an attack in online chatrooms because he was bored, as he went on trial for attempted treason. The 52-year-old suspect, named as Roque M., made headlines when he was arrested last November in …

Paris, France | AFP |  Homemade explosives ready for use were found Wednesday in an unoccupied flat near Paris, judicial sources said. Gas canisters and electric wiring were also found in the flat in Villejuif, a suburb south of the French capital, and two men were arrested nearby, the sources …

Bogota, Colombia | AFP |  Pope Francis starts his fifth visit as pontiff to his native Latin America region on Wednesday with a trip to Colombia as it moves on from a half-century civil conflict. Here are five facts and figures about the 80-year-old Argentine-born pope’s trip from September 6-10. …