WORLD

Washington, United States | AFP | Babies born in the world’s poorest countries, most of them in Africa, still face “alarming” risks of death that can be 50 times as high as those in the richest countries, according to a UNICEF report released Tuesday. While the last quarter-century has seen …

Hammuriyeh, Syria | AFP | Heavy Syrian bombardment killed at least 77 civilians in rebel-held Eastern Ghouta on Monday, a monitor said, as regime forces appeared to prepare for an imminent ground assault. The escalation came as pro-government forces were also expected to enter the northern Kurdish-controlled enclave of Afrin, …

Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump signaled support Monday for improving background gun checks amid mounting pressure for reform in the wake of the Florida school shooting, as the accused gunman appeared in court. Nikolas Cruz, charged with killing 17 people, sat silently with his head …

New Delhi, India | AFP | Four people including a candidate in upcoming state elections have been killed by a bomb while travelling in a restive northeast region of India, police said Monday. The blast tore through a car in Meghalaya state late Sunday as Jonathone N Sangma, a 43-year-old …

The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | France on Monday urged the UN’s top court to throw out a case brought against it in a bitter diplomatic row with oil-rich Equatorial Guinea over French accusations of top-level corruption. “France has not accepted the jurisdiction of this court under any title whatsoever …

Yangon, Myanmar | AFP | Myanmar troops seized $7 million worth of narcotics, precursors and equipment in a raid on drug labs in the restive north, the army said Monday, as it continues a war against ethnic rebels accused of profiting from the drug trade. Soldiers and local officials found …

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | AFP | Hundreds of tourists were stranded for hours after a cable car broke down on the Malaysian island of Langkawi, authorities said Monday, with some left dangling in cabins over a jungle-clad mountain as night fell. Over 1,000 tourists, including some Western and Chinese visitors, …

Paris, France | AFP | Noted French jazz violinist Didier Lockwood, a disciple of the late Stephane Grappelli, has died of a heart attack in Paris, his agent said. Lockwood, who turned 62 on February 11, died early on Sunday morning. The night before his death, he had performed at …

Damascus, Syria | AFP | Syrian student Nour wistfully examines her bare ring finger, then scans fellow classmates around her at Damascus University. Amid the sea of women, there’s no eligible single man in sight. At 30, Nour says she is eager to get married — but Syria’s protracted conflict …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | The former Oxfam country director at the centre of a prostitution scandal admitted to paying for sex at his charity-funded residence during an internal inquiry into the allegations, a report released Monday by the British organisation said. Roland van Hauwermeiren, who led Oxfam’s team …