Venezuela talks in Norway end without deal
A second round of talks in Norway between representatives of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaido aimed at resolving the nation?s political crisis have ended ?without agreement,? Guaido?s office has announced. During the meeting in Norway, Guaido?s representatives said they had laid out a road map for ending Maduro?s presidency, installing a transition government and holding ...
US prosecutors push back on enforcing new state abortion laws
Even a few who left open potentially charging doctors said they would not prosecute women for having an abortion, which some legal observers say could be a possibility under Georgia?s law. ?I am never going to enforce a law that?s unconstitutional, and furthermore, especially not one that targets women and girls,? said David Cooke, chief prosecutor in Macon, Georgia, ...
Thousands rally in Mongolia to call for government to step down
Thousands of anti-government protesters took to the streets of Mongolia?s capital, Ulaanbaatar, on Thursday to demand the leadership step down over allegations of corruption and failure to revive a struggling economy. But disputes with foreign investors like Rio Tinto, government overspending and slipping commodity prices tipped Mongolia into an economic crisis in 2016 from which it has yet to ...
Mueller denies probe cleared Trump, hands baton to Congress
Robert Mueller said Wednesday his two-year Russia investigation had not exonerated Donald Trump, but that he had lacked the power to charge a sitting president ? passing the baton to Congress where a growing chorus is clamoring for impeachment. President Donald Trump, who has assailed the Russia investigation as a treasonous ?witch hunt? and a ?hoax,? declared the case ...
Seven South Koreans dead, 21 missing as Budapest tourist boat sinks
Seven South Korean tourists died and 21 others were missing after a sightseeing boat capsized and sank on the Danube in Budapest, Hungarian and South Korean officials said Thursday. The accident happened near the parliament building in the heart of the Hungarian capital after a collision with a larger river cruise boat during torrential rain around 09:15 p.m. (1915 ...
White House wanted USS McCain ‘hidden’ from Trump: reports
The White House requested a Navy ship bearing the name of US President Donald Trump?s late rival senator John McCain be kept ?out of sight? during a recent presidential trip to Japan, US media reported Wednesday. Contacted by AFP, a spokesman for the Seventh Fleet said that photos showing a tarp over the name of the ship were from ...
Nigerian President Buhari sworn in for second term
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in for a second term in office on Wednesday, vowing once more to tackle crippling security threats and root out corruption in Africa?s key economy. The 76-year old leader, in power since 2015 and re-elected in February, took the oath of office for a second four-year term in the capital Abuja. ?I do ...
Saudi Arabia asks nations to respond to Iran with ‘firmness
Saudi Arabia?s foreign minister on Thursday urged Muslim nations to confront recent attacks in the region that the US and its allies have blamed on Iran with ?all means of force and firmness.? Ibrahim al-Assaf made the comments at a meeting of foreign ministers of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation ahead of a series of summits in the kingdom ...
24-hour strike paralyses Argentina as unions protest austerity measures
Flights, trains and buses across Argentina came to a halt as labor unions protested the policies of Mauricio Macri. Much of Argentina came to a standstill on Wednesday as opponents of President Mauricio Macri launched a 24-hour strike to protest government austerity measures in response to inflation that has reached 55 percent over the past year. Union leaders say ...
UN chief calls for ‘strong and united’ Europe to avoid new cold war
UNITED NATIONS, May 30 (APP):With the post-world war international institutions eroded and under threat, a ?strong and united Europe? standing alongside the United Nations, has never been more essential, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in Germany on Thursday. ?If you want to avoid a new cold war? if you want to build a true multilateral order, we ...
Turkey releases detained NASA scientist Serkan Golge
The US State Department announced Wednesday that Serkan Golge, who Turkish prosecutors claimed belonged to a terrorist organization, has been released from prison. ?We welcome the news that Serkan Golge has been released from prison today,? State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus told reporters. ?We will continue to follow Mr. Golge?s case closely along with those involving our own locally ...
'Eggboy' donates $69,000 to Christchurch victims
SYDNEY: An Australian teen who egged a far-right senator over his offensive comments about the Christchurch mosque attacks says he has donated almost AUD100,000 (US$69,000) raised for his legal defence to the victims of the shootings. William Connolly, nicknamed "Eggboy", made international headlines when he cracked an egg over controversial then-senator Fraser Anning's head at a press conference after ...
Disney chief says would be 'difficult' to film in Georgia if abortion law takes effect
ANAHEIM: Walt Disney Co Chief Executive Bob Iger told Reuters on Wednesday it would be ?very difficult? for the media company to keep filming in Georgia if a new abortion law takes effect because many people will not want to work in the US state. Asked if Disney would keep filming in Georgia, Iger said it would be ?very ...
Taliban, Afghan opposition officials claim 'progress' at talks
Moscow: Taliban officials and Afghan opposition figures claimed Thursday to have made "tremendous progress" at Moscow talks, but the announcement rang hollow as discussions yet again excluded the Afghan government and no ceasefire was announced. The ultra-conservative insurgents spent more than two days at a plush hotel in central Moscow, where they met several leading Afghan politicians -- including ...
European unity vital to avoid new cold war: UN chief
?If you want to avoid a new cold war? if you want to build a true multilateral order, we absolutely need a united and strong Europe,? Guterres said as he accepted the Charlemagne Prize for services to European unity in Aachen, Germany. ?At this time of great anxiety and geopolitical disorder we need multilateralism more than ever,? said Guterres, ...
India’s Modi sworn in ahead of unveiling revamped govt
Modi was the first of more than 50 cabinet ministers and deputy ministers to take the oath of office at the presidential palace in front of 8,000 people including South Asian leaders, Bollywood stars and leading political figures. Modi, whose right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party made history by increasing their majority in a second straight landslide election win, was to ...
Spain retail sales rise 1.1pc y/y in April
Spanish retail sales rise by 1.1pc in April from a year earlier on a calendar-adjusted basis, after rising by a revised 1.4pc in March, the National Statistics Institute (INE) said on Thursday.
Brazil economy shrinks 0.2 percent in first quarter
RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil?s economy shrank in the first quarter of the year, official data showed Thursday, taking Latin America?s biggest country to the brink of recession for the first time in two years. Gross domestic product contracted 0.2 percent from the previous quarter, the statistics agency said, marking the first decline in the key gauge of economic activity ...
Hungary to cut payroll tax to boost job creation: minister
BUDAPEST: Hungary’s government will cut the payroll tax by another 2 percentage points to 17.5 percent from July to boost job creation, Finance Minister Mihaly Varga said on Thursday. The measure will cost 144 billion forints ($493 million) this year and 156 billion forints next year, Varga told a news conference, announcing a stimulus package including cuts in an advertising tax ...
Amnesty suspends Zimbabwe branch after fraud probe
HARARE: Amnesty International on Thursday suspended its local branch in Zimbabwe after uncovering evidence of fraud, in the first ever such move by the rights advocacy group.
