Seoul, South Korea | AFP | South Korean tech giant Samsung on Tuesday denied allegations it illegally lobbied International Olympic Committee members to vote for Pyeongchang to host the 2018 Winter Olympics over the German and French cities of Munich and Annecy. Corruption allegations surrounding Pyeongchang’s successful Olympic bid have …
Read More »Erdogan vows perpetrators of E. Ghouta massacre will pay ‘heavy price’
Ankara, Turkey | AFP | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday vowed those behind the killings of civilians in the Syrian rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta would pay a “heavy price”, after an alleged chemical assault killed dozens. “I curse those who carried out this massacre. Whoever has done …
Read More »Macron sparks uproar with church-state remarks
Paris, France | AFP | Remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron that he wanted to repair church-state ties caused uproar Tuesday, sparking charges he was tampering with France’s longstanding secular tradition. The Catholic Church and the state were for centuries virtually indistinguishable in France but the 1789 Revolution and 19th …
Read More »Mexican president orders review of cooperation with US
Mexico City, Mexico | AFP | Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto has ordered his government to carry out a sweeping review of its cooperation with the neighboring United States, his office said Monday, as tensions rise with the Donald Trump administration. The move comes days after Trump ordered thousands of …
Read More »Why FBI raided offices of Trump’s personal lawyer
Washington, United States | AFP | A furious Donald Trump blasted the investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller as a “disgrace” and a “witch hunt” Monday after FBI agents raided the New York offices of the president’s longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen. Agents seized files relating to Cohen’s work, …
Read More »Zuckerberg testimony to Congress: ‘My mistake, I’m sorry’
Washington, United States | AFP | Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg says he accepts responsibility for the social network’s failure to protect private data and prevent manipulation of the platform, according to testimony released Monday on the eve of his first Congressional appearance. “We didn’t take a broad enough view of …
Read More »Assad, backers ‘must be held to account’ if chemical attack confirmed: British PM
Copenhagen, Denmark | AFP | Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his backers “must be held to account” if a suspected poison gas attack on the rebel-held town of Douma is confirmed, British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday. “If confirmed this is yet another example of the Assad regime’s …
Read More »Iran’s Rouhani says US ‘will regret it’ if it violates nuke deal
Tehran, Iran | AFP | Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said Monday that the United States would regret violating the nuclear deal, and that Iran would respond in “less than a week” if that happened. “We will not be the first to violate the accord but they should definitely know that …
Read More »Gaza war crimes may be prosecuted: ICC prosecutor
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | The world war crimes court’s chief prosecutor Sunday called for an end to ongoing bloodshed in the Gaza Strip, warning that the court could try those who commit gross atrocities. “The resort to violence must stop,” Fatou Bensouda said in a statement issued by the …
Read More »EU says ‘evidence points’ to chemical attack by Syria regime
Brussels, Belgium | AFP | The EU said Sunday that evidence suggested the Syrian regime carried out a chemical attack in Douma and urged Damascus’s allies Russia and Iran to help prevent another one. The European Union’s diplomatic arm said it condemns “in the strongest terms” the use of chemical weapons …
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