Mobile phone in hand, student Abdelaziz al-Aswad bounds up the steps of an UNESCO-listed Roman theatre in southern Syria, elated that the heritage site has survived seven years of civil war. The second-century theatre stands tall in the ancient city of Bosra, which the United Nations cultural body designated as under threat after Syria’s conflict […]
Brazil’s Bolsonaro rules out sending back Venezuelan migrants
President-elect Jair Bolsonaro said Saturday his government would not send back the tens of thousands of Venezuelans who have sought refuge in Brazil from the economic breakdown in their leftist-ruled homeland. The Venezuelan immigrants “are not merchandise or some product that can be returned,” he said after attending a military anniversary ceremony. His comments followed […]
Egypt unveils ancient tomb and sarcophagi in Luxor
Egypt on Saturday unveiled an ancient tomb, sarcophagi and funerary artifacts discovered in the Theban necropolis of Al-Assasif in the southern city of Luxor. In a ceremony in front of the temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Antiquities Minister Khaled al-Anani announced that French and Egyptian archaeologists had discovered “a new tomb… with very nice paintings”. Located […]
Judge issues arrest warrant for Fujimori ally over corruption probe
A Peruvian judge issued an international arrest warrant for an ally of jailed opposition leader Keiko Fujimori in relation to the same money laundering probe that has seen former president Alberto Fujimori’s daughter locked up for three years of preventative detention. Judge Richard Concepcion Carhuancho also ordered Jaime Yoshiyama to join Fujimori in pre-trial detention […]
22 dead, scores feared drowned after Uganda boat sinks
Twenty-two people have died and more than 60 are feared drowned after a pleasure boat sank on Lake Victoria, Ugandan police said Sunday. The vessel carrying close to a hundred revellers sank during bad weather on Saturday in the latest deadly incident to affect passenger boats on Africa’s largest lake. “Twenty-two bodies have been recovered […]
Partial reopening of Baghdad’s Green Zone delayed: official
The partial reopening of Baghdad’s high-security Green Zone to through traffic, planned for Sunday, has been postponed for several days, a government official said. The enclave has been home to Iraq’s parliament, government offices, United Nations agencies and western embassies since the US-led invasion that toppled dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003. Earlier this week, Iraqi […]
Protest in Myanmar’s Rakhine state opposes Rohingya return
Protesters in Myanmar’s troubled Rakhine state demonstrated Sunday against the planned repatriation of Rohingya Muslims from Bangladesh, referring to them as “runaway refugees”. About 100 people led by Buddhists monks marched through the state capital Sittwe holding red banners and chanting slogans. “All the people of the nation are responsible to protect the security of […]
Students march in Hungary for Soros-founded university
Students on Saturday marched in support of a university founded by US billionaire George Soros in Hungary, ahead of a deadline for a legal dispute to be resolved. The government says the embattled Central European University (CEU), chartered in the US state of New York, has not yet met the requirements of a law passed […]
Zimbabwe’s Mugabe in Singapore for medical treatment, unable to walk
Former Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe has been receiving medical treatment in Singapore for the last two months and is no longer able to walk, though he should return home next week, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said on Saturday. Mugabe, 94, who ruled the southern African nation for nearly four decades since independence from Britain in 1980, […]
IS counter-attacks kill 47 US-backed fighters in east Syria: monitor
Counter-attacks by the Islamic State group have killed at least 47 US-backed fighters over two days as the jihadists struck from their embattled holdout in eastern Syria, a war monitor said Saturday. The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) Kurdish-led alliance supported by a US-led coalition is battling to expel the jihadists from a pocket in the […]