Chile’s governing coalition splits ahead of November election
Author: ReutersMon, 2017-05-01 03:00ID: 1493582277299081500SANTIAGO: Chile’s Christian Democrat party voted on Saturday to skip primaries and go straight to the first round of the presidential election in November, rupturing the center-left governing coalition and likely boosting the chances of a victory for the right.Delegates at the Christian Democrats’ national assembly voted with a 63 percent majority for […]
South Korea, US conduct military drills despite Pyongyang threats
Author: AFPMon, 2017-05-01 03:00ID: 1493581530618956300SEOUL: South Korea and the US wrapped up their annual large-scale military drills on Sunday, but continued a separate joint naval exercise that has triggered dire threats from nuclear-armed North Korea.Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have been running sky-high for weeks, with signs that the North might be preparing a long-range missile launch […]
Nigeria releases top Biafra separatist leader
Author: ReutersSat, 2017-04-29 00:28ID: 1493495680160740500ABUJA: The leader of a group calling for the secession of an area in southeast Nigeria, formerly known as Biafra, was released on bail after being detained for nearly two years, his lawyer said.Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) campaign group, has been held at Kuje prison in the […]
ASEAN firms up S.China Sea stance as Beijing lobbies over statement
Author: REUTERSSat, 2017-04-29 09:37ID: 1493495569160724600MANILA: Southeast Asian countries have altered a statement to be issued at Saturday’s ASEAN Summit to include references to militarization and island-building in the South China Sea, the latest draft shows, in a move likely to frustrate Beijing.Chinese Embassy representatives in Manila had sought to influence the content of the communique by lobbying […]
Independence push threatens Hong Kong’s autonomy, says Beijing official
Author: REUTERSSat, 2017-04-29 14:50ID: 1493494616730671900HONG KONG: The legal chief of Beijing’s representative office in Hong Kong said on Saturday growing calls for independence could make the territory’s current “one country, two systems” constitutional framework unsustainable.Chinese leaders are increasingly concerned about a fledgling independence or secessionist movement in the former British colony of Hong Kong, which returned to […]
Philippine police chief backs ‘secret cell’ detention
Author: AFPSat, 2017-04-29 11:37ID: 1493494526890659800MANILA: The Philippines’ police chief has defended the detention of a dozen people inside a closet-sized secret cell in a case that raised further alarm about abuses under President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly war on drugs.The government’s human rights commission discovered a dozen men and women packed into the tiny cell behind a wooden […]
Macedonia playing with fire, says former peace envoy
Author: ReutersSat, 2017-04-29 09:00ID: 1493494393450640800BELGRADE: Nationalists in Macedonia are “playing with fire” in refusing to relinquish power and the EU should consider halting its accession process in order to break a dangerous deadlock, said the former envoy who helped avert civil war in the Balkan country.A long-running political crisis in the former Yugoslav republic turned violent on […]
Montenegro ratifies NATO membership accord
Author: ReutersFri, 2017-04-28 19:07ID: 1493494332540629500PODGORICA: Montenegro’s Parliament has ratified the membership agreement with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), taking the former Yugoslav republic a step closer to becoming the 29th member of the alliance despite protests over its 1999 bombing campaign.Outside the parliament, where 46 of 81 deputies voted in favor of the agreement, several hundred […]
Macron urges ‘morally weak’ rivals to unite against far-right rival
Author: ReutersSat, 2017-04-29 00:19ID: 1493494250680616300CHATELLERAULT, France: French presidential hopeful Emmanuel Macron launched a scathing attack on Friday against politicians who have failed to endorse him against far-right rival Marine Le Pen, saying they were making France “morally weak” and pandering to extremists.Having been caught on the hop by Le Pen since the start of the second round […]
Violence mars Brazil’s anti-austerity general strike
Author: AFPSat, 2017-04-29 04:27ID: 1493493960450594300RIO DE JANEIRO: Police in Brazil tear-gassed demonstrators and rioters burned buses on Friday in the violent conclusion of a general strike that shut down transport, schools and banks in protest against austerity reforms.A peaceful protest by several thousand people in central Rio in the afternoon turned violent, with small groups smashing bank […]
