WORLD

Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis vowed Friday that the Catholic Church will never again treat abuse allegations without “seriousness and promptness”, calling on abusers to hand themselves in to police. “The Church will never seek to hush up or not take seriously any case,” the pope …

Washington, United States | AFP |  The US House of Representatives adjourned Friday without Congress passing a spending deal, assuring a partial government shutdown at midnight as President Donald Trump and lawmakers remain at odds over border wall funding. Operations for several key agencies will cease in the early hours …

Washington, United States | AFP | US politicians and international allies scrambled Friday to make sense of President Donald Trump’s momentous foreign policy decisions for Syria and Afghanistan — epic reversals that prompted Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to quit. Trump’s historic moves to pull out of Syria and slash troop …

Washington, United States | AFP |  The Supreme Court dealt President Donald Trump’s attempt to crack down on illegal immigration a blow Friday when it rejected a White House bid to implement his asylum ban on Central Americans. The high court declined to overturn a block placed by the San …

Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump on Friday gave the clearest signal yet that the US government will partially shut down at midnight, likely leaving hundreds of thousands of federal employees with coal in their Christmas stockings instead of paychecks. Concern — and frustration — in Washington …

Miami, United States | AFP | The US this year arrested over 10,000 members of “transnational gangs,” its immigration enforcement agency announced Thursday — including over 2,000 members of MS-13, regularly cited as a threat by US President Donald Trump. US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said it also deported …

Berlin, Germany | AFP | A German court on Thursday ruled in favour of US chipmaker Qualcomm in a patent dispute case against Apple, which could lead to a ban on sales of iPhones in Germany. This marks a second major win for Qualcomm in a month after a court …

Washington, United States | AFP | Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, a softly spoken but battle-hardened former Marine, always stood in uneasy contrast with President Donald Trump, his brash businessman boss who avoided any military service. On Thursday, after months of speculation and following Trump’s stunning decision to pull out of …

Paris, France | AFP | The French government will give police officers a long-sought raise after a strike called in the wake of the “yellow vest” anti-government protests, which have strained security forces already on high alert after years of jihadist terror attacks. The accord was announced just before midnight …

Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea said Thursday its commitment to denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula was bound up with a “complete removal of US nuclear threats”. Following a rapid diplomatic rapprochement this year, the North’s leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump signed a vaguely-worded statement …