WORLD

Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea needs to allow more access and monitoring for international aid, the head of the UN’s World Food Programme said Tuesday following a four-day visit to the country. The WFP is one of the few aid agencies operating in the isolated country, which …

Sydney, Australia | AFP | A number of African athletes who went missing from the Commonwealth Games last month have resurfaced seeking advice on gaining asylum in Australia, refugee advocates said Tuesday. More than a dozen were suspected of fleeing during the showpiece event on the Gold Coast. Among them …

Windsor, United Kingdom | AFP | The royal wedding of Prince Harry and his glamorous fiancee Meghan Markle is a moment of light relief for a Britain weighed down by political, social and economic woes. With growth shrinking and the government riven over Brexit, Saturday’s wedding is set to provide …

Paris, France | AFP | France’s economy grew 2.2 percent in 2017, according to revised figures published Tuesday — good news for President Emmanuel Macron as he pursues ambitious reforms designed to make the country more competitive. National statistics office INSEE revised its growth for last year up from 2.0 …

Tehran, Iran | AFP | Iran said on Tuesday that Israeli officials should be tried as war criminals over the “brutal massacre” of Gazan protesters the previous day. “The killing of children, women and defenceless people of Palestine and the occupation of Palestinian lands has become the main strategy of …

Washington, United States | AFP | US First Lady Melania Trump had surgery Monday for what aides called a “benign” kidney condition, and will remain in hospital for the rest of the week. The Slovenia-born wife of Donald Trump underwent an embolization procedure, said her communications director Stephanie Grisham. “The …

Gaza, Palestinian Territories | AFP | At Gaza’s Shifa Hospital, people search desperately for loved ones. Some already know they are dead and grimly work their way through bodies. Others have received no news so scour the wards, before descending to the morgue. There a young man cries “Why are …

Tehran, Iran | AFP | Iran does not want “new tensions” in the Middle East, President Hassan Rouhani told German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday, after Israel carried out strikes against what it called Iranian targets in Syria. “Iran has always sought to reduce tensions in the region, trying to …

New York, United States | AFP | The estranged British fashion designer wife of Harvey Weinstein claims she “never” suspected him of wrongdoing and was “so naive,” in her first interview since the Hollywood mogul’s downfall over sexual misconduct revelations. “There was a part of me that was terribly naive …

Moscow, Russia | AFP | Following Israeli strikes on Iranian targets in Syria, Russia has positioned itself as a mediator between the Middle Eastern rivals as it has maintained good relations with both countries. “The Kremlin is sitting on two chairs,” Russian analyst Alexei Malashenko told AFP. “It is a …