WORLD

Baghdad, Iraq | AFP |  It posted tens of thousands of troops in Iraq, huddled with its leaders and helped craft its laws — but with the country swamped by deadly protests, Washington is staying out of the fray. Its apparent absence during a key turning point in Iraq lays bare …

Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea is “no longer interested” in summits with the US unless Washington offers new concessions in their nuclear negotiations, Pyongyang said Monday, hours after Donald Trump hinted at the prospect. “You should act quickly, get the deal done,” Trump tweeted Sunday, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong …

Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis, who years ago hoped to be a missionary in Japan, travels to the sites of the world’s only atomic attacks this week seeking a ban on nuclear weapons. The Argentine pontiff, 82, flies to Asia on Tuesday, where he will first visit …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Britain’s Prince Andrew provoked a backlash Sunday following an extraordinary TV interview branded “disastrous” by public relations experts in which he denied having sex with an alleged victim of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The royal was lambasted from all quarters for his lack …

Hong Kong, China | AFP | Hong Kong police Monday warned for the first time in months of unrest that they may use “live rounds” after pro-democracy protesters fired arrows and threw petrol bombs at officers at a besieged university campus, as the crisis engulfing the city sharply escalated. Protests …

Lisbon, Portugal | AFP | Cristiano Ronaldo travels to Luxembourg on Sunday with the objective of helping reigning champions Portugal qualify for Euro 2020 and the 100-goal mark for his country within his reach. The former Real Madrid star is also eager to prove he is not a player in …

Tahíche, Spain | AFP | Roadside billboards and high-rise hotels are banned on Spain’s holiday island of Lanzarote — a legacy of visionary artist Cesar Manrique, whose birth a century ago is being celebrated this year. Part of the volcanic Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago located in the Atlantic Ocean off …

Washington, United States | AFP |  US President Donald Trump will visit Britain for NATO’s 70th-anniversary summit next month, the White House said Friday, in a trip falling days before the country votes in a general election. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is seeking to retain power in the December 12 …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The fight for safe abortions is an uphill struggle with half of all terminations worldwide still conducted in risky conditions, pro-choice advocates told a major women’s health conference in Nairobi. Despite gains in many countries, there are huge barriers in poorer parts of the world, they …

Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea has launched a visceral diatribe against US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, calling the former vice-president a “rabid dog” — while also borrowing the terminology of Donald Trump. Pyongyang is renowned for its vitriol, but the verbal deluge was unusually ferocious even by …