Washington, United States | AFP | Donald Trump vowed Tuesday to overturn President Barack Obama’s signature health insurance program after the government announced Americans will see costs jump an average of 25 percent next year. “Obamacare has to be repealed and replaced and it has to be replaced with something …
Read More »Lengthy drug tunnel found under US-Mexico border
Mexico City, Mexico | AFP | Authorities have discovered 2.3 tons of marijuana in a lengthy illicit tunnel connecting the Mexican city Tijuana to San Diego in the United States, the Mexican Attorney General said Monday. The 1847-foot (563-meter) long passage was found after agents of the attorney general requested …
Read More »US warns Philippines’ Duterte over rhetoric, crime war
Manila, Philippines | AFP | Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s fiery rhetoric and deadly crime war are becoming a growing concern around the world, the top US envoy for Asia warned on Monday in Manila. US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel met the Philippines’ …
Read More »South Korea’s Park pushes reform of single-term presidency
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | South Korean President Park Geun-Hye on Monday called for constitutional reforms that could allow future presidents to serve two terms — as she struggles with plunging popularity ratings and a widening corruption scandal. While its constitution grants enormous power to the executive, South Korea …
Read More »Ratan Tata back in hot seat as Indian giant dumps Mistry
Mumbai, India | AFP | Industrialist Ratan Tata sensationally returned to the helm of India’s biggest conglomerate on Monday as Tata Sons dumped Cyrus Mistry as chairman in a shock announcement that stunned analysts. The 78-year-old takes interim charge of the sprawling $100 billion tea-to-steel group almost four years after …
Read More »Afghan opium cultivation skyrockets as eradication collapses
Kabul, Afghanistan | AFP | Afghanistan saw a 10 percent jump in opium cultivation this year, highlighting bumper harvests owing to collapsing eradication efforts amid growing insecurity and declining international counter-narcotics assistance, the UN said Sunday. Cultivation dropped last year due to drought conditions but it has been on …
Read More »172 inmates escape Haiti prison, 2 dead
Port-au-Prince, Haiti | AFP | At least 172 inmates escaped a Haitian prison near the capital Port-au-Prince during an armed mutiny, killing one guard and many escaping with police weapons, local media reported. Le Nouvelliste newspaper quoted Arcahaie prison manager Heurtelou Paul Colson on Saturday as saying a guard was …
Read More »Iraq parliament in surprise vote to ban alcohol
Baghdad, Iraq | AFP | Iraq’s parliament on Saturday voted to ban the sale, import and production of alcohol, in a surprise move likely to anger some minorities but also to please influential religious parties. Proponents of the ban argue that it is justified by the constitution, which prohibits any …
Read More »AT&T agrees to buy Time Warner in over $80 bn deal
New York, United States | AFP | Telecom giant AT&T has struck a deal to buy entertainment company Time Warner for more than $80 billion, to add in-house content to its distribution services, a banking source familiar with the negotiations said Saturday. An official announcement is expected before Monday’s trading …
Read More »ICC asks South Africa, Burundi to reconsider withdrawal
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | The International Criminal Court on Saturday asked South Africa and Burundi to reconsider their decisions to withdraw from the troubled institution set up to try the world’s worst crimes. “Although withdrawing from a treaty is a sovereign act, I regret these decisions and …
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