Browsing: World News

28 March 2014 – The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator warned the Security Council today that as the Syrian civil…

China has laid out the charges against four suspects captured after a brutal railway station attack that killed 29 people and injured 143 earlier this month, officials said. Eight members of what Beijing labelled a “terrorist gang” carried out the stabbing…

“Noah,” the big screen adaptation of the biblical tale starring Russell Crowe in the lead role, topped the North American Box Office at the weekend, estimates showed Sunday. The action drama, which reunites Crow with Jennifer Connelly whom he starred…

The party of Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan took a strong lead in local elections Sunday, despite turbulent months marked by mass protests, corruption scandals and Internet blocks. If the national trend holds up, it would considerably brighten…

Anne Hidalgo, a Spanish-born Socialist, will be the first female mayor of Paris after an unexpectedly comfortable win in municipal elections on Sunday. Hidalgo, 54, had been expected to be run extremely close by her centre-right rival, former government…

The United States is giving ex-Soviet Moldova $10 million to strengthen security on its border with Ukraine, Washington’s top diplomat in Europe Victoria Nuland said Sunday. Part of Moldova’s eastern border with Ukraine is occupied by the breakaway…

27 March 2014 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon travelled to the Ilulissat Icefjord today as he wrapped up his visit to…

27 March 2014 – In a vote that reaffirmed Ukraine’s unity and territorial integrity, the United Nations General Assembly today…

Crimea’s Tatars on Saturday voted to push for self-rule in their historic homeland following its annexation by Russia, but remained torn on how to engage with the new authorities. Ethnic Tatars from all over Crimea convened in the town of Bakhchysaray…

A 4.1 magnitude earthquake rattled Los Angeles on Saturday, a day after a similar seismic shock spooked the sprawling Californian metropolis. The building housing AFP’s office on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood swayed gently after the latest temblor,…

The European Union on Saturday signalled that it is ready to deploy its delayed peacekeeping force to help put down the escalating crisis in Central African Republic, after obtaining additional backing for the mission. The troops were due to deploy…

One of the world’s longest railways — a “modern-day silk road” — covers some 11,000 kilometres (24,000 miles) en route from the Chinese megacity of Chongqing to Duisburg, a key commercial hub in western Germany. On Saturday, as part of his landmark…

The death toll from several weeks of protests that have paralyzed Venezuela rose to 39 on Saturday after two more people died in separate incidents, Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez said. Rodriguez said on VTV public television that in San Cristobal…

Vatican police on Saturday apprehended an American and a Dutch man who were trying to deposit billions of euros and US dollars in fake bonds in the Vatican bank. The men were stopped by the police when they approached one of the guarded gates at the…

A construction worker at Sao Paulo’s troubled World Cup stadium was killed after falling from a stand on Saturday, bringing the number of deaths at the venue to three. The workman, named as Fabio Hamilton da Cruz, fell eight metres (26 feet) as he helped…

Embroiled in political turmoil, Turkey’s leader has declared war on a shadowy enemy, a Muslim cleric he accuses of running a parallel “deep state” from faraway rural Pennsylvania. Out on the campaign trail ahead of Sunday’s local elections, there are…

A senior Palestinian official said a release by Israel of Arab prisoners would not go ahead on Saturday as envisaged but he hoped there would only be short delay. “Today the prisoners will not be released… maybe in the coming days,” Issa Qaraqae,…

US President Barack Obama met a Saudi women’s rights activist on Saturday, the same day women have pledged to defy a driving ban, as he wrapped up a reassurance visit to the longtime ally. In talks with King Abdullah late on Friday, Obama told his host…

Syrian troops made fresh gains in the strategic Qalamun area near the Lebanese border Saturday, seizing two villages from rebels, a military source told AFP. “The army took control this morning of the villages of Ras al-Maarra and Flita, after bombing…

Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested to his US counterpart Barack Obama in a phone call between the two leaders that the international community could examine joint steps to calm the situation in Ukraine, the Kremlin said Saturday. Putin in the…