World powers set to take the stage, virtually, at UN debate

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- The UN's first virtual meeting of world leaders was set to start Tuesday with pre-recorded speeches from some of the planet's biggest powers, kept at home by the coronavirus pandemic that will likely be a dominant theme at their video gathering this year. Among those expected to speak Tuesday are US President Donald Trump and Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, whose countries have reported the highest and second-highest coronavirus death tolls, respectively. Also on dec

Sept. 22, 2020

[Graphic News] Minorities made up 78% of US COVID-19 pediatric deaths: study

　Racial minorities accounted for 78 percent of COVID-19 deaths under the age of 21 in the United States between February and July, a government report said. 　Out of 121 deaths among under-21s, 45 percent were among Hispanics, 29 percent among blacks and 4 percent among American Indians or Alaskan Natives, according to the study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 　Together, these groups represent 41 percent of the US population under 21. 　Overall, mortality among children a

Sept. 22, 2020

Trump pledges woman for court, pushes Senate to act

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump on Saturday promised to put forth a female nominee in the coming week to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, pushing the Republican-controlled Senate to consider the pick without delay. Taking the stage at a North Carolina rally to chants of "Fill that seat," the president said he would nominate his selection despite Democrats' objections. And, after conducting what he joked was a "very sci

Sept. 20, 2020

Coronavirus cases top 30 million worldwide: AFP tally

PARIS (AFP) -- The number of coronavirus cases registered worldwide topped 30 million on Thursday, according to an AFP tally based on official sources. The grim landmark came as the World Health Organization warned of "alarming rates of transmission" of Covid-19 across Europe. The tallies, using data collected by AFP from national authorities and information from the World Health Organization (WHO), probably reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections. Many countries

Sept. 18, 2020

Esper says 'Quad' will be more effective than bilateral alliance

WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper on Wednesday reiterated the need to build a collective security alliance in the Indo-Pacific region, insisting his country must focus more on multilateral cooperation than one-on-one alliances. Speaking in a seminar organized by US think tank RAND Corporation, the US defense chief said the country's bilateral alliances with countries in the Indo-Pacific, including South Korea, provide a valuable, cost-free asset to deter conflict with China or R

Sept. 17, 2020

Trump, Kim both promise lasting friendship, but only time will tell: Woodward

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un both claim to have formed a special and close friendship, but only time will tell if their friendship is genuine, famed Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward writes in his soon-to-be released book, "Rage." "Trump has personally said they are 'love letters,' Woodward writes in his upcoming book, referring to 27 letters exchanged between Trump and Kim that he has obtained. "They are more than that

Sept. 15, 2020

[Newsmaker] Suga as next Japanese premier likely to stay course on S. Korea relations: experts

As Yoshihide Suga, a key loyalist of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is poised to succeed the hawkish leader, Tokyo is likely to stay the course in its hard-line stance on Seoul rather than seeking an immediate policy shift, analysts said Monday. Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga won the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)'s leadership contest and is expected to be endorsed as new premier in a parliamentary vote slated for Wednesday. Abe announced his surprise decision to step down due to ill

Sept. 14, 2020

Yoshihide Suga wins party vote for Japan prime minister

TOKYO (AP) -- Yoshihide Suga was elected as the new head of Japan's ruling party on Monday, virtually guaranteeing him parliamentary election as the country's next prime minister. Suga received 377 votes in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party election to pick a successor to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who announced last month that he would resign due to health problems. The other two contenders received a combined 157 votes -- former Foreign minister Fumio Kishida got 89 and former Defense Mini

Sept. 14, 2020

'Diversity is strength': WTO candidate

More diversity would strengthen the World Trade Organization, a WTO leadership candidate said, suggesting that placing an African or a woman such as herself at the top could send a "very powerful message". Amina Mohamed of Kenya, one of eight candidates vying to become the WTO's next director-general, said the organisation, as it battles with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, would benefit from better reflecting all those around the world who contribute to global trade. &quo

Sept. 8, 2020

NATO demands Moscow reveal Novichok programme

  BRUSSELS (AFP) --NATO on Friday called for an international probe into the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and demanded Moscow reveal its Novichok nerve agent programme to the global chemical weapons watchdog.    After an emergency meeting of NATO's ruling council, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg said all countries were united in condemning the "horrific" attack on Navalny.    Germany, where Navalny is being treated, briefed the other

Sept. 4, 2020

Neymar one of three PSG stars to test positive for Covid-19

PARIS (AFP) - Neymar was one of three Paris Saint-Germain stars to have contracted the coronavirus, a well-placed source told AFP on Wednesday, after the Champions League runners-up announced several positive tests. "Three Paris Saint-Germain players have confirmed positive Sars CoV2 tests and are subject to the appropriate health protocol," PSG said in a statement. "All of the players and coaching staff will continue to undergo tests in the coming days." When contacted b

Sept. 3, 2020

US preparing for Nov. 1 rollout of first coronavirus vaccine: report

WASHINGTON -- The United States is getting ready to start distributing its first new coronavirus vaccine just before the presidential election, a news report said Wednesday, raising questions over the viability of what it said may be a politically-motivated target date. The report from California-based publishing firm McClatchy said the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has sent a letter to governors of each state, asking them to eliminate hurdles for vaccine distrib

Sept. 3, 2020

Ethnic Mongolians in China protest switch to Mandarin schooling

BEIJING (AFP) -- Tens of thousands of people in an ethnic Mongolian region of northern China have joined rare protests and school boycotts against a new curriculum they fear will wipe out their minority culture, residents said Tuesday. The sudden policy change in Inner Mongolia means all ethnic minority schools in the remote region will now be required to teach core subjects in Mandarin rather than Mongolian, echoing similar moves in Tibet and Xinjiang to assimilate local minorities into the d

Sept. 1, 2020

UN agency laments summer's 'deep wound' to Earth's ice cover

GENEVA (AP) -- The United Nations weather agency says this summer will go down for leaving a "deep wound" in the cryosphere -- the planet's frozen parts -- amid a heat wave in the Arctic, shrinking sea ice and the collapse of a leading Canadian ice shelf. The World Meteorological Organization said Tuesday that temperatures in the Arctic are rising twice as fast as the global average, provoking what spokeswoman Clare Nullis called a "vicious circle." "The rapid decline

Sept. 1, 2020

Who's next? Abe's party maneuvers to pick Japan's next PM

TOKYP (AP) -- With Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announcing his plans to step down due to health reasons, members of his ruling party are furiously maneuvering ahead of an internal vote that will ultimately decide his successor. Executives of Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party met Tuesday and decided that the Sept. 14 vote for party leader -- and with it almost assuredly prime minister -- will be limited to lawmakers and not broader members of the party. Some younger lawmakers had ca

Sept. 1, 2020

Japan's Suga hopes to succeed PM Abe, race heats up: media

TOKYO (Reuters) -- Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga will join the race to succeed his boss Shinzo Abe as prime minister, local media said on Sunday, as the competition heats up to succeed Japan’s longest-serving leader. Suga, a longtime lieutenant of Abe’s in a key supporting role, had denied interest in the top job but attracted attention with a series of interviews, to Reuters and other news organisations, in the days before Abe’s abrupt resignation for

Aug. 30, 2020

'7 bullets, 7 days': Protesters march for Blake in Kenosha

KENOSHA (AP) -- With chants of "One person, one vote!" and "No justice, no peace!" a crowd of about 1,000 demonstrators gathered outside a Wisconsin courthouse Saturday to denounce police violence and share messages of change, a week after an officer shot Jacob Blake in the back and left the 29-year-old Black man paralyzed. The diverse group of protesters also chanted "Seven bullets, seven days!" -- a reference to the number of times Blake was shot last Sunday --

Aug. 30, 2020

Trump to visit Kenosha in wake of racial unrest

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- US President Donald Trump will travel next week to the Midwestern city where African American Jacob Blake was shot multiple times in the back by a white policeman, sparking a nationwide wave of protest. Trump will meet police in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Tuesday and "survey damage from recent riots" triggered by Blake's shooting last weekend, White House spokesman Judd Deere said Saturday. Blake took at least half a dozen shots in front of his small children as he tr

Aug. 30, 2020

Japan's Abe says he's resigning for health reasons

Japan's longest-serving prime minister, Shinzo Abe, said Friday he intends to step down because a chronic health problem has resurfaced. He told reporters that it was "gut wrenching" to leave so many of his goals unfinished. Abe has had ulcerative colitis since he was a teenager and has said the condition was controlled with treatment. Concerns about Abe's health began this summer and grew this month when he visited a Tokyo hospital two weeks in a row for unspecified health checkups

Aug. 28, 2020

Search for bodies as Afghan floods kill more than 160

CHARIKAR (AFP) -- Rescue workers were searching Thursday for bodies in the debris of collapsed houses after flash floods fuelled by torrential rains killed at least 162 people in Afghanistan. At least 100 people died in the city of Charikar north of Kabul when flooding overnight on Tuesday caused hundreds of buildings to collapse. Abdul Ghayor, a labourer who was working in the capital, said he had rushed back to Charikar to look for his family only to find his house had been swept away. &q

Aug. 27, 2020