WORLD

New York, United States | AFP | Masses of children skipped school Friday to join a global strike against climate change that teen activist Greta Thunberg said was “only the beginning” in the fight against environmental disaster. Some four million people filled city streets around the world, organizers said, in …

US sending more troops to Gulf, Trump announces Iran sanctions Washington, United States | AFP | The United States announced Friday that it was sending military reinforcements to the Gulf region following attacks on Saudi oil facilities that it attributes to Iran, just hours after President Donald Trump ordered new …

Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump threatened on Friday to release Islamic State prisoners at European borders if France, Germany and other countries don’t take back their captured nationals. “I defeated the Caliphate,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office during a meeting with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison. “And now …

Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump on Friday angrily denied any wrongdoing in a phone call with a mystery foreign leader that led an intelligence whistleblower to sound the alarm, as reports said the call was to his Ukrainian counterpart. The allegations have triggered a showdown between Congress, …

Sydney, Australia | AFP | Children across Asia and the Pacific kicked off what are set to be the largest global climate protests in history Friday, demanding adults act now to stop environmental disaster. From Sydney to Seoul, Manila to Mumbai, children heeded the rallying cry of fellow teen activist Greta …

Washington, United States | AFP  The US intelligence watchdog briefed lawmakers Thursday about the handling of a whistleblower complaint on alleged behavior by President Donald Trump, and a senior Democrat expressed alarm that the administration refuses to share the complaint with Congress. The allegations, rejected by Trump as “presidential harassment,” have …

Paris, France | AFP |  Humanity should brace for blowback from oceans and frozen zones increasingly addled by climate change, a major UN report will warn. Loading the atmosphere with CO2 and greenhouse gases has spawned a host of consequences, starting with irreversible sea-level rise, according to a draft Intergovernmental Panel …

Uganda improved by 35% percent over a 17-year-period  from 578 to 375 deaths for every 100,000 live births  Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | Global child and maternal deaths have fallen sharply in recent decades, but new UN statistics released Thursday show unequal progress, with more than five childbirths a minute ending …

Jakarta, Indonesia | AFP |  Indonesia is set to vote on a plan to outlaw gay and pre-marital sex while beefing up its blasphemy laws in a shakeup fuelled by religious conservatism and slammed by rights groups Thursday. The proposed criminal law overhaul could affect millions in the world’s biggest …

Damning South Sudan Report focuses on regional players, including Uganda London, United Kingdom | AFP |  Hollywood star George Clooney’s investigative project The Sentry on Thursday urged the international community to act over alleged links between global corporations, tycoons and foreign governments and rampant corruption in South Sudan. The Sentry …