Category: World News

Taiwan protests Spain’s deporting of 200 Taiwanese to China

TAIPEI, Taiwan – Taiwan’s foreign ministry has protested Spain’s decision to deport more than 200 Taiwanese telecom fraud suspects to China, in the latest instance of a government moving to deport citizens of the self-governing island to its rival. Scores of Taiwanese have been arrested around the world in the past year in connection with vast telecoms fraud scams targeting Chinese nationals.

Ex-cop says Duterte paid him, others to kill crime suspects

MANILA, Philippines – A retired Philippine police officer says President Rodrigo Duterte, when he was a city mayor, ordered and paid him and other members of a so-called liquidation squad to kill criminals and opponents, including a kidnapping suspect and his entire family and a critical radio commentator. Human rights lawyers who presented Arthur Lascanas at a news conference Monday said his allegations could be grounds for impeaching Duterte.

Iraq claims troops make early gains in operation to retake western Mosul

Iraqi forces, supported by the Popular Mobilization paramilitaries, prepare to advance towards the village of Sheikh Younis, south of Mosul, after the offensive to retake the western side of the city from Daesh commenced on February 19, 2017. Iraqi forces said on Sunday that they had regained territory from Daesh in the western part of Mosul, hours after the launch of an offensive to dislodge the extremist militia from its last key stronghold in the country.

Malaysia recalls ambassador to North Korea

Malaysia’s ambassador to North Korea has been recalled from Pyongyang amid rising tensions between the countries over the death in Kuala Lumpur of an estranged scion of North Korea’s ruling family. The Malaysian foreign ministry said in a Monday statement that it had recalled its ambassador “for consultations” and had summoned Kang Chol, North Korea’s ambassador to Kuala Lumpur, “to seek an explanation on the accusations he made against the Government of Malaysia.”

Zakir Naik’s NGO money trails leads ED to Dawood

MUMBAI: Was the controversial preacher a part of the hawala racket being masterminded from Karachi? Security agencies monitoring Karachi-based businessmen close to D-Company and a `terror outfit masquerading as charitable and social organisation’ for funding Mumbai-based IRF. Three days after controversial preacher Zakir Naik’s chief financial officer Aamir Gazdar was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate for alleged money laundering, the trail has led the sleuths to Pakistan and the D-Company.

Shearing record bid today in Southland

Another World shearing record attempt has been given the all-clear to go ahead in Southland today with Leon Samuels tackling a record of 603 strongwool ewes in eight hours. The green-light was given at a late-Sunday pre-record wool-weigh where the wool from 10 sample sheep shorn under the supervision of World Sheep Shearing Records Society judges weighed 33kg, comfortably over the minimum average of 3kg per sheep.

Exit polls see Ecuador leftist ahead, runoff unclear

Lenin Moreno, candidate of the ruling PAIS Alliance Party, shows a ballot paper before casting his vote at a polling station during the presidential election in Quito, Ecuador February 19, 2017. People stand in line while waiting to cast their votes during the presidential election at a school-turned-polling station in Guayaquil, Ecuador February 19, 2017.

Beijing likely to steer clear of Kim killing

Wading into the killing of Kim Jong-nam would only antagonise North Korea, at a time when its missile programme is the leading concern, experts say Beijing will maintain its distance from the murky saga of the murder of the estranged elder brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, in a bid to avoid further complicating its relations with its volatile neighbour, diplomatic sources and Chinese observers said. It is not known whether the head of the reclusive state was involved in the killing of Kim Jong-nam, but even if the younger Kim was linked to the death, Beijing was expected to stay silent as any accusations would only drive Pyongyang further into isolation.

Forevermark Hits 2,000-Store Milestone

Forevermark has opened its 2,000th retail location worldwide, less than a decade after the De Beers-owned diamond brand was born. “Opening our 2,000th global retail door around eight years after launching the brand is an amazing achievement,” said Stephen Lussier, Forevermark’s chief executive officer.

McCully to visit Cook Islands

Foreign Minister Murray McCully will travel to the Cook Islands this week to undertake a range of meetings, including with Prime Minister Henry Puna and his Cabinet. “My discussions with Prime Minister Puna and his Cabinet will cover a range of matters including New Zealand’s support to the Cook Island’s tourism sector, which accounts for over 60% of national GDP,” Mr McCully says.

No love lost for Bibi in Australia

PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu meets with Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop at the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem last September. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Australia this week was supposed to be a positive, official trip to further cement Australia’s bipartisan support for Israel.

Akhilesh, Prateek my two eyes: Mulayam’s 2nd wife

SAIFAI : Trying to close the chapter on a prolonged family feud for control over the Samajwadi Party, Uttar Pradesh’s ruling Yadav clan presented a picture of unity on Sunday. Speaking to reporters after the vote in their native village Saifai, the Yadavs came out with perfectly in-sync sound bytes to dispel any notion of fight within the family.

BlueScope profit jumps, to buyback shares

BlueScope Steel’s first-half profit has jumped 79.5 per cent, prompting the steelmaker to lift its dividend and announce a $150 million share buyback. Net profit of $359.1 million for the six months to December 31 was $159 million higher than the same period a year earlier.

Blast in Somalia kills 34 in Mogadishu marketplace

Somalia’s new president visited victims wounded by the Mogadishu car bomb that on Sunday killed 34. President Mohamed Abdulahi Mohamed offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those who planned the blast. The explosion hit a busy marketplace in the western part of the capital, said police Capt.

Four North Korean suspects fled Malaysia after airport Kim Jong Nam’s murder

Four North Korean suspects in the murder of the estranged half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un fled Malaysia on the day he was attacked at Kuala Lumpur airport and apparently killed by a fast-acting poison, police said Sunday. A North Korean man, a Vietnamese woman and an Indonesian woman have been arrested already in connection with the death of Kim Jong Nam last Monday, which has triggered a diplomatic spat between Malaysia and Pyongyang.

Bomb explodes by Colombia bull ring, killing 1 policeman

A homemade bomb exploded near Bogota’s bullring on Sunday, killing a police officer and injuring as many as 31 bystanders. The artefact, whose loud explosion shattered windows in nearby apartment buildings, appears to have been left in a sewer outside a new youth hostel popular with foreign backpackers.

Blast in Mogadishu marketplace kills 34

Somalia’s new president visited victims wounded by the Mogadishu car bomb that on Sunday killed 34. President Mohamed Abdulahi Mohamed offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of those who planned the blast. “It was a horrific and barbaric attack only aimed at killings civilians,” he said from the scene of the blast.

Iraqi forces launch offensive to drive IS from western Mosul

Ground units pushed into a belt of villages outside the country’s second-largest city, and plumes of smoke rose into the sky early in the morning as U.S.-led coalition jets struck militant positions southwest of Mosul and militarized Iraqi police fired artillery. “This is zero hour and we are going to end this war, God willing,” said Mahmoud Mansour, a police officer, as he prepared to move out.

Pence visits Dachau concentration camp

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence paid a somber visit to the site of the Dachau concentration camp on Sunday, walking along the grounds where tens of thousands of people were killed during World War II. Pence visits Dachau concentration camp DACHAU, Germany – U.S. Vice President Mike Pence paid a somber visit to the site of the Dachau concentration camp on Sunday, walking along the grounds where tens of thousands of people were killed during World War II.

France’s Le Pen arrives in Lebanon

The far-right French leader Marine Le Pen has arrived in Beirut to meet with the Lebanese head of state and leading Christian figures. The National Front leader is hoping to burnish her credentials as a defender of Christians in the Middle East, ahead of France’s April 23 presidential elections.

Europeans wonder if Trump will act on Pence’s reassurances

U.S. Vice-President Mike Pence was the latest in a trio of high-ranking Trump emissaries to tell European allies in person that the United States will steadfastly support NATO and demand that Russia honour its commitments to end fighting in Ukraine. Some European leaders, however, remain skeptical of whether Pence and the U.S. secretaries of state and defence actually speak for President Donald Trump.

Canadian Border Town Worries About ‘Confrontations’ After …

A municipal authority in Manitoba, Canada is concerned about the influx of dozens of “asylum seekers” who showed up to border town of Emerson Sunday morning . “I’m scared, the bigger the numbers – if we don’t have enough officials, someone is going to slip through the crack because there’s so many people to process,” Reeve Greg Janzen, a municipal authority, told CBC News .

.com | 350 000 children trapped in west Mosul: Charity

Save the Children warned on Sunday that about 350 000 children were trapped in western Mosul as Iraqi forces launched a new offensive on jihadists defending the strategic city. The London-based charity’s Iraq country director, Maurizio Crivallero said: “Iraqi forces and their allies, including the US and UK, must do everything in their power to protect children and their families from harm and avoid civilian buildings like schools and hospitals as they push deeper into the city.”

US vice president visits former Nazi concentration camp

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, second from right, his wife Karen and their daugher Charlotte, right, walk through the former crematories during a visit to the former Nazi concentration camp in Dachau near Munich, southern… . U.S. Vice President Mike Pence looks into during a visit to the memorial site in the former Nazi concentration camp in Dachau near Munich, southern Germany, Sunday, Feb. 19, 2017, one day after he attended the Munich Secur… .

Islamic extremists denounce Somalia’s new president

A commander of Somalia’s Islamic extremist rebels denounced said the country’s recent election of a new president and vowed to continue fighting the government, the first official comment from al-Shabab since the president’s election earlier this month. In an audio message released by al-Shabab’s radio arm Sunday, Sheikh Hassan Yaqub, a senior commander of the extremist group, called Somalia’s new president Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed an “apostate” and warned Somalis against supporting him.

Sonia Gandhi condoles former CJI Altamas Kabir’s death

New Delhi , Feb. 19 : Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Sunday expressed condolence at the demise of former Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir. Remembering him as an outstanding legal luminary, Sonia Gandhi said, “As a judge, Justice Kabir’s contribution to legal and justice system of India shall never be forgotten.

Gambia’s new president commits to end human rights abuses

Gambia President Adama Barrow, left, reads, during his inauguration ceremony in Banjul , Gambia, Saturday, Feb. 18, 2017. Gambia’s new president thanked his nation and promised greater freedom, an improved economy and better education as thousands attended a ceremony Saturday marking his inauguration after a tense political standoff with the country’s former longtime leader.