WASHINGTON /Â AP In an extraordinary public showdown, President Donald Trump fired the acting attorney general of the United States after she publicly questioned the constitutionality of his refugee and immigration ban and refused to defend it in court. The clash Monday night between Trump and Sally Yates, a career prosecutor and Democratic appointee, laid bare the growing discord and ...
Read More »Militants say 20 soldiers killed, wounded in Sinai
CAIRO / AP The local affiliate of the IS group in Egypt’s restive northern Sinai Peninsula says its fighters have killed and wounded 20 Egyptian soldiers in four days of fighting south of the city of el-Arish. In a statement released early Tuesday and posted on a pro-IS group website, the group said the fighting also resulted in the ...
Read More »Iran refuses to confirm conducting missile test
TEHRAN / AP Iran’s foreign minister is refusing to confirm that the country conducted a missile test, saying Iran’s missile program is not part of a 2015 landmark nuclear deal between his country and world powers. The White House said Monday it is studying the details of an Iranian ballistic missile test. Iran is the subject of a United ...
Read More »UN children agency seeks $3.3bn in support in 2017
GENEVA / AP UNICEF is appealing for $3.3 billion this year to help millions of children worldwide facing conflict, malnutrition and other humanitarian emergencies. The UN children’s agency says more than 40 percent of the appeal would provide funds for children either displaced within Syria or who have fled abroad to escape the country’s nearly six-year war. UNICEF said ...
Read More »UN resumes airdrops to besieged Syrian city
BEIRUT / AP The World Food Program says it has resumed food airdrops to the besieged Syrian city of Deir al-Zour. The U.N. agency said on Tuesday it was using a new drop zone after IS group militants took control of the primary zone two weeks ago. The extremist group laid siege Deir al-Zour in 2015, trapping Syrian government ...
Read More »7 troops killed in fighting in eastern Ukraine
AVDIIVKA / AP Fighting between government troops and Russia-backed separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine escalated on Tuesday, killing at least seven people overnight, injuring many more and briefly trapping 200 coalminers underground, the warring sides reported. Rebels in Donetsk said an electricity sub-station was damaged in shelling, cutting power to the Zasyadko coal mine in Donetsk and trapping more ...
Read More »Envoy says US not building arms depot in Philippines
MANILA / AP The United States is not building any weapons depot anywhere in the Philippines, the US ambassador said Tuesday, denying the basis on which President Rodrigo Duterte threatened to abrogate a 2014 defense pact that allows US forces to temporarily base in local camps. Ambassador Sung Kim said that nothing is being planned now that even closely ...
Read More »Brexit chief asks lawmakers to trust people, back Article 50
Bloomberg Brexit Secretary David Davis called on lawmakers to give the government permission to implement the will of the British people who voted for the UK’s formal departure from the European Union. Davis kicked off the debate in the House of Commons in London on Tuesday and made the case that the issue is straightforward. The lower house of ...
Read More »Etihad, TAT ink US$1mn pact to enhance Thailand tourism
Abu Dhabi / Emirates Business Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, and The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) on Tuesday signed a landmark US$1 million agreement to increase tourism to Thailand. Under the new agreement, the Abu Dhabi-based airline and TAT will jointly promote travel to Thailand from priority markets including the United Arab Emirates, ...
Read More »Mitsubishi to boost US engineers after jet delivery delays
Bloomberg Mitsubishi Aircraft Corp., which announced a fifth delay in the delivery of its passenger jet last week, plans to boost the number of engineers at a Seattle facility by more than a third as it steps up flight tests to meet an extended deadline. The maker of the Mitsubishi Regional Jet will increase staff to more than 200 ...
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