WORLD

  Beijing, China | AFP |  China’s air force conducted military drills in seas adjacent to the Korean peninsula, an official report has said, as tensions soared over North Korea’s pursuit of nuclear weaponry. The defence battalion simulated warding off a “low-altitude, surprise” attack off China’s east coast, and practised …

Beijing, China | AFP | China’s President Xi Jinping told Donald Trump Wednesday that Beijing remains committed to denuclearising North Korea as the US president warned again that any Pyongyang threat would trigger an “overwhelming” response. In a phone call with Trump, Xi also said China remains firm in its …

Rome, Italy | AFP |  A four-year old girl has died of malaria after apparently contracting the disease in northern Italy in a case that has perplexed the medical world, doctors said Tuesday. “I’ve never seen a case like it, it’s a mystery. It shouldn’t have been possible for her …

Francis’s 12-hour journey from Rome was the first time the pope’s words have been reported direct from his plane. Bogota, Colombia | AFP | Pope Francis landed in Colombia Wednesday to promote peace after decades of war. Here are three highlights from day one of the Argentine pope’s fifth papal …

  Mexico City, Mexico | AFP |  Mexico condemned US President Donald Trump’s decision to end an amnesty for thousands of people brought illegally to the United States as children, expressing “deep worry” for the uncertainty they now face. “Mexico deeply regrets the cancellation” of the program known as DACA, …

  Berlin, Germany | AFP | A German intelligence agent said he pretended to be a jihadist planning an attack in online chatrooms because he was bored, as he went on trial for attempted treason. The 52-year-old suspect, named as Roque M., made headlines when he was arrested last November in …

Paris, France | AFP |  Homemade explosives ready for use were found Wednesday in an unoccupied flat near Paris, judicial sources said. Gas canisters and electric wiring were also found in the flat in Villejuif, a suburb south of the French capital, and two men were arrested nearby, the sources …

Bogota, Colombia | AFP |  Pope Francis starts his fifth visit as pontiff to his native Latin America region on Wednesday with a trip to Colombia as it moves on from a half-century civil conflict. Here are five facts and figures about the 80-year-old Argentine-born pope’s trip from September 6-10. …

Paris, France | AFP |  Daily aspirin use — known to reduce the risk of colon cancer — could also make the disease harder to treat if it does occur, researchers reported Wednesday. The new findings based on mathematical modelling, If confirmed statistically and in the lab, would mean that …

Sao Paulo, Brazil | AFP |  Brazilian police on Tuesday found suitcases overflowing with millions of dollars worth of cash in an apartment believed to be linked to a former government minister accused of corruption. There was so much money in the apartment in the northeastern city of Salvador, which …