Category: WORLD

An ex-Secret Service officer’s forthcoming book on Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton reportedly claims she has a “volcanic” leadership style and lacks the “temperament” to hold office — the same charge the candidate leveled last week at Donald Trump. The book, “Crisis of Character,” is due to be released June 28 – a month before Clinton is likely to take the stage to accept the Democratic presidential nomination in Philadelphia. Written by ex-Secret Service Officer Gary J. Byrne, who was “posted directly outside President Clinton’s Oval Office,” the 285-page book…

Read More

Germany’s head of state, 76-year-old President Joachim Gauck, said Monday he won’t seek a second term in 2017 because due to his age. Gauck told reporters at his office in Berlin he would complete his five-year term but didn’t feel he was up to another because “the years between 77 and 82 are different than those that I’m in right now.” “Until the end of my term, I will seriously and happily fulfill my duties,” he said.  Germany’s president performs a largely ceremonial role that has little executive power, but…

Read More

Despite the onset of the monsoon in several parts of the country, India continues to reel under a brutal heat wave that has now lasted more than two months and claimed dozens of lives. On Monday, temperatures rose to more than 47°C (116.6°F) in the western state of Rajasthan — which also recorded India’s hottest day ever at 123.8°F last month — the Press Trust of India reported. Some respite is expected, however, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicting the onset of annual rains, called the Southwest Monsoon, across…

Read More

Japan has resorted to opening a prison to those left homeless by two deadly earthquakes, officials said Tuesday, highlighting the challenges faced in dealing with tens of thousands who have fled their homes. Two major earthquakes and about 600 smaller tremors have rocked the southwestern island of Kyushu since late Thursday, leaving a total of 44 people dead and more than 1,000 injured — 208 of them seriously — in Japan’s worst humanitarian disaster in five years. Many who abandoned their damaged or destroyed homes have had to sleep in…

Read More

It was a bloody Tuesday morning in the Afghan capital, Kabul, where over 28 people have been reportedly killed and more than 200 have been injured. Tuesday’s bombing happened during the morning rush hour in a residential neighbourhood close to the ministry of defence and military compounds. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the incident which occurred when a vehicle was detonated. There are unverified claims that Taliban fighters managed to breach the defences of the National Directorate of Security, the main spy agency which protects high-ranking government officials. For now,…

Read More

Tech billionaire Sean Parker announced Wednesday a $250 million grant to fund research aimed at breakthroughs in cancer treatment through immunotherapy. Parker, the founder of music-sharing service Napster and an early investor and executive at Facebook, will create a center for immunotherapy — which aims to use the body’s immune system to fight the disease — collaborating with six US-based cancer research institutions. “We are at an inflection point in cancer research and now is the time to maximize immunotherapy’s unique potential to transform all cancers into manageable diseases, saving…

Read More

The U.S. has ramped up its fight against the Islamic State terror group’s online capabilities, dropping so-called “cyber bombs” on the militants, a top Pentagon official said Tuesday. “Those guys are under enormous pressure. Every time we have gone after one of their defended positions over the last six months, we have defeated them. They have left, they have retreated,” Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work told Reuters. Defense Secretary Ash Carter gave some explanation for the concept of “cyber bombs” in a February NPR interview. “We are using cyber tools,…

Read More

Tired of the U.S. presidential race? Follow another hot contest that will determine who will be the top diplomat of the whole world. The job title: United Nations secretary-general. The first step in the race began Tuesday, with the early declared candidates taking questions from both the public and members of the U.N. General Assembly. If you need an election guide, here’s your primer: Who’s running? You thought the Republican Party primary field was crowded? So far, there are nine official candidates for the United Nations’ top job, but the…

Read More

The number of child bombers used by the Islamic extremists of Boko Haram has increased from four to 44 in a year with devastating consequences in communities that now see children as threats, UNICEF said Tuesday. Seventy-five percent of the children used are girls, a new report said, emphasizing that these children, many believed captives, are “victims, not perpetrators.” “As ‘suicide’ attacks involving children become commonplace, some communities are starting to see children as threats,” said Manuel Fontaine, West Africa director of the U.N. children’s agency. “This suspicion toward children…

Read More

As part of efforts to give the African Union Economic, Social and Cultural Council (AU ECOSOCC) its rightful privilege of being independent and to accelerate the realisation of the people centered agenda of the African Union, the Assembly of Head of States in its Decision No. 4 (XXVI) Rev.1 of January 2016 has welcomed the relocation of the Secretariat of ECOSOCC to Lusaka, Zambia. The Assembly then urged the Zambian government to work with the African Union Commission (AUC) to expedite the processes regarding legal, structural and financial implications of…

Read More