Beirut, Lebanon | AFP | Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri announced his resignation on Saturday, citing Iran’s “grip” on the country and threats to his life. The surprise move risks plunging the small and already fragile Middle Eastern country deeper into turmoil. “I announce my resignation from the post of prime …
Read More »Costa Rica presidential candidates hold debate in prison
San José, Costa Rica | AFP | Seven candidates to become Costa Rica’s next president went behind bars to hold an unusual debate in a prison where they answered inmates’ questions about their election platforms. “I hope you feel at home,” one of the prisoners said as the seven politicians …
Read More »Colombia mothers stage ‘nurse-in’ to defend breastfeeding
Bogota, Colombia | AFP | Hundreds of mothers gathered to breastfeed their babies in a park in Bogota Friday, in a “nurse-in” demonstration aimed at raising acceptance of the practice and promoting its health benefits. Nearly 1,000 families met in the city’s Parque de Los Novios for the fourth event …
Read More »Mourinho testifies in Madrid court over tax fraud allegations
Madrid, Spain | AFP | Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho was grilled by a judge in Spain on Friday over accusations of a 3.3 million euro ($3.8 million) tax fraud during his time in charge of Real Madrid in 2011 and 2012. After leaving the brief closed-door hearing, the 54-year-old …
Read More »Spacey, Weinstein in police crosshairs over assault claims
New York, United States | AFP | Hollywood’s explosive sexual harassment scandal deepened Friday as New York police revealed they were gathering evidence for a possible arrest warrant against Harvey Weinstein in a credible double rape allegation. Weinstein, once one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, and Oscar-winner Kevin …
Read More »Trump departs for Asia, leaving trail of controversy
Andrews Air Force Base, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump departed Washington for an almost two week trip to Asia Friday, leaving in his wake a trail of scandal and invective that risks overshadowing efforts at top-level diplomacy. Trump left Joint Base Andrews, just outside Washington, bound for …
Read More »UN, Colombia sign key anti-cocaine pact
Vienna, Austria | AFP | The UN and Bogota signed a major pact Friday to uproot Colombia’s booming cocaine business, as part of ongoing peace efforts between the government and drug trade-controlling rebels. The deal worth $315 million dollars (270 million euros) aims to wean farmers off growing coca — …
Read More »Iran denounces CIA ‘fake news’ in Bin Laden files
Tehran, Iran | AFP | Iran has accused the CIA of spreading “fake news” about the Islamic republic with newly declassified files seized in the 2011 raid in Pakistan in which Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden was killed. The CIA on Wednesday released 470,000 additional files found in May 2011 when …
Read More »Spain to seek Catalan leader’s arrest
Madrid, Spain | AFP | A Spanish judge was set Friday to issue an arrest warrant for Catalonia’s deposed leader Carles Puigdemont over his region’s contested independence drive, in a move likely to further escalate tensions in Spain’s worst political crisis in decades. The European arrest warrant was due a …
Read More »US sends supersonic bombers over South Korea
Washington, United States | AFP | US bombers overflew the Korean peninsula Thursday as part of an exercise with Japanese and South Korean warplanes, the US Air Force said, days before President Donald Trump arrives in the region for a trip set to be dominated by the nuclear-armed North. Tensions are …
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