LONDON / AP British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Sunday she plans to discuss free trade and the importance of the NATO military alliance when she becomes the first foreign leader to meet with US President Donald Trump in Washington. The White House’s invitation for May to meet with Trump on Friday was seen in Britain as affirmation that ...
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In midst of Aleppo wreckage, a Syrian family returns home
ALEPPO / AP The street looks as if it was hit by an earthquake and the bombed-out building in a former rebel-held northeastern neighborhood of Aleppo is deserted — except for the second-floor apartment where Abdul-Hamid Khatib and his family are staying. There is no electricity or running water. The apartment windows are covered with nylon sheets and a hole ...
Read More »Gambia awaits new leader, but exiled one has right to return
BANJUL / AP Gambia’s capital on Sunday was awaiting the arrival of the country’s new leader and an era of democracy, hours after the authoritarian ruler of 22 years flew into exile with an extraordinary set of assurances from the international community. Even as new President Adama Barrow remained in neighboring Senegal awaiting a triumphant return after a whirlwind political ...
Read More »Trump takes office, vows to stop ‘American carnage’
WASHINGTON / AP Pledging emphatically to empower America’s “forgotten men and women,†Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States on Friday, taking command of a riven nation facing an unpredictable era under his assertive but untested leadership. Under cloudy, threatening skies at the West Front of the US Capitol, Trump painted a bleak picture ...
Read More »Bomb kills 20 in Pakistan
PESHAWAR / AP A bomb exploded Saturday in a market in a northwest tribal region that borders Afghanistan, killing 20 people and wounding at least 50, officials said. Dr Sabir Hussain at the main hospital in Parachinar, the capital of Pakistan’s Kurram tribal region, said two wounded victims died during treatment, raising the death toll. Shahid Khan, an assistant tribal ...
Read More »2 die in central China landslide
BEIJING /Â AP At least two people were killed and 10 others are missing after a hotel in central China was buried in a landslide, the local government reported on Saturday. Crews were working to dig out those trapped in the Mirage Hotel that was struck by the disaster around 7:30 p.m. on Friday, the government of Nanzhang county in ...
Read More »Gambian activists urge justice as longtime leader steps down
BANJUL / AP As Gambia’s defeated authoritarian ruler prepares to leave the country, human rights activists demand that he be held accountable for alleged abuses. Yahya Jammeh announced early Saturday he will cede power, after hours of last-ditch talks with regional leaders and the threat that a regional military force would forcibly remove him. No date has been set for ...
Read More »Chinese express doubts about US relations under Trump
BEIJING / AP People in Beijing expressed doubts on Saturday about President Donald Trump’s ability to steer the US economy and manage China-American relations, underscoring concerns over trade, Taiwan and other issues. While Trump didn’t mention China in his inaugural address on Friday, he referred often to the country during the campaign and upended diplomatic protocol after the election by ...
Read More »Europe’s nationalist leaders launch year of election hopes
KOBLENZ / AP French presidential hopeful Marine Le Pen declared on Saturday that 2017 will be the “year of the awakening of the people of continental Europe†as she joined fellow nationalist leaders in Germany at the beginning of a year of high-stakes national elections. Le Pen was joined by the Netherlands’ Geert Wilders, Matteo Salvini of Italy’s Northern League ...
Read More »Erdogan advocates powerful presidency after key vote
ISTANBUL / AP Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has started campaigning for constitutional reforms that would greatly expand the powers of his office, hours after a vote in parliament cleared the way for a national referendum on the issue. Speaking in Istanbul on Saturday, he hailed the assembly’s early-morning decision and said “God willing the people will give the true ...
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