WORLD

Washington, United States | AFP | The United States formally concluded Tuesday that North Korea murdered Kim Jong Un’s half-brother with the banned VX nerve agent, blasting Pyongyang for deploying a chemical weapon in a packed international airport. Kim Jong Nam died in February last year, shortly after two women …

Seoul, South Korea | AFP | South Korean President Moon Jae-in sounded a note of caution Wednesday over the North’s offer of denuclearisation talks, saying it was “too early to be optimistic”, even as US leader Donald Trump welcomed the development. President Trump welcomed Pyongyang’s breakthrough declaration — as relayed …

Washington, United States | AFP | Washington’s top diplomat set off for Africa on Tuesday to tour countries that form a new theater for competition with America’s ambitious great power rival China. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s trip to Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, Chad and Nigeria will take him to new …

Brussels, Belgium | AFP | Boys account for nearly a third of online child sex abuse images and often suffer the worst horrors, a new study revealed Tuesday, suggesting a greater problem than first thought. Interpol and Ecpat, a Bangkok-based international organisation fighting child sexual abuse, produced the findings after reviewing …

Agen, France | AFP | French President Emmanuel Macron unveiled Tuesday a series of court overhauls aimed at finding alternatives to jail, a bid to tackle chronic overcrowding at the country’s prisons. His proposals came on the heels of nearly two weeks of protests in January by prison guards angry over …

Washington, United States | AFP | Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put aside his domestic legal woes on Tuesday to find a warm welcome in Washington at a meeting of the pro-Israeli lobby. On the home front the veteran Israeli right-winger faces an intensifying corruption probe that could see the 68-year-old forced …

United Nations, United States | AFP | The United Nations on Tuesday welcomed plans for a summit between North and South Korean leaders and said it was ready to help advance talks on ending the crisis over Pyongyang’s drive to develop nuclear weapons. “Obviously, we are encouraged by these discussions,” said …

Paris, France | AFP | As the world marks International Women’s Day this week, it remains to be seen whether campaigns such as #MeToo and #Timesup can really advance the fight for women’s rights and gender equality worldwide or whether their effects will be more transitory. The #MeToo and #Timesup campaigns …

Ahmedabad, India | AFP | A truck carrying a wedding party plunged off a bridge early Tuesday in western India killing at least 25 people, most of them women and children, officials said. Initial investigations indicated the driver lost control causing the truck to swerve off the bridge and fall …

Douma, Syria | AFP | At least nine civilians were killed Tuesday in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta as fresh regime air strikes and clashes shook the rebel enclave outside Damascus, a monitor and AFP correspondents said. Regime air strikes killed nine civilians in the town of Jisreen early Tuesday, the Britain-based …