Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | Devastating conflicts, violence and persecution in Syria, South Sudan and elsewhere left a record 65.6 million people uprooted from their homes by the end of 2016, the UN said Monday. That number marks a jump of just 300,000 from the end of 2015, but is …
Read More »UN chief Guterres to lobby US Congress to save funding
United Nations, United States | AFP | Drastic cuts in US funding to the United Nations would create an insoluble problem for the world body, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Tuesday as he announced plans to lobby US lawmakers to reject the cutbacks. Guterres will travel to Washington next week …
Read More »Republican holds lead in Georgia race seen as Trump referendum
Washington, United States | AFP | Early results trickled in for Tuesday’s closely-watched election in Georgia, the most expensive congressional race ever, with the Republican narrowly leading a contest that Democrats have painted as a referendum on Donald Trump’s scandal-plagued presidency. The $60-million special election has been a nailbiter between …
Read More »US student evacuated from N. Korea has died
Chicago, United States | AFP | Otto Warmbier, the US student released by North Korea in a coma last week after more than a year in detention, has died, his family said Monday. The 22-year-old, who had suffered severe brain damage, was medically evacuated to the United States on June …
Read More »Havana will ‘never negotiate under pressure’
Vienna, Austria | AFP | Cuba will “never negotiate under pressure,” Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said Monday, responding to a toughening of the US line on links with his country. “We will never negotiate under pressure or threat…,” he told reporters in Vienna during a visit to Austria. “Cuba will …
Read More »‘Portugal weeps’ as deadly forest fire rages, 62 dead
Pedrógão Grande, Portugal | AFP | More than 1,000 firefighters on Monday continued to battle a giant forest fire that swept through central Portugal at the weekend, killing at least 62 people. The country was in mourning after the deadliest such disaster in its recent history, with many victims burnt …
Read More »UNHCR: 65.6 million people forced to flee
Uganda receives most new refugees worldwide, new displacement figures show Oslo, Norway| NRC | The Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council has called for worldwide support for Uganda that received the largest number of new refugees last year of more than half a million people. “The system protecting refugees will …
Read More »Baby on board: Indian gives birth at 35,000 feet
Mumbai, India | AFP | An Indian woman gave birth to a baby boy on an international commercial flight as it flew at 35,000 feet, the airline said on Monday. The unnamed woman, in her 20s, went into premature labour on Sunday’s Jet Airways flight between Damman in Saudi …
Read More »Another London attack!
One dead as van rams pedestrians near London mosque London, United Kingdom | AFP | A van ran into pedestrians near a north London mosque, killing one man and injuring eight others in an incident that police on Monday said was being investigated by counter-terrorism officers. The 48-year-old driver of …
Read More »Rwanda-born Berville is French MP as Macron secures majority
Rwanda-born Berville is MP as Macron marches to clear majority in French parliament Paris, France | AFP | French President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party swept to a large majority in parliamentary elections on Sunday, although it fell short of a predicted landslide. Macron’s year-old Republique en Marche (Republic on the …
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