WASHINGTON (AFP) -- President Donald Trump warned Saturday that the US is targeting 52 sites in Iran and will hit them "very fast and very hard" if the Islamic republic attacks American personnel or assets.In a saber-rattling tweet that defended Friday's US drone strike assassination of a powerful Iranian general in Iraq, Trump said 52 represents the number of Americans held hostage at the US embassy in Tehran for more than a year starting in late 1979.Trump said some of these sites ar

World News Jan. 5, 2020

 BAGHDAD(AFP) -- The State Department today told US citizens to leave Iraq “immediately,” after an American strike killed top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in Baghdad.“Due to heightened tensions in Iraq and the region, we urge US citizens to depart Iraq immediately,” the State Department tweeted. “Due to Iranian-backed militia attacks at the US Embassy compound, all consular operations are suspended. US citizens should not approach the Embassy.”T

World News Jan. 3, 2020

HONG KONG (AFP) -- Oil prices soared more than four percent Friday following news that the US had killed a top Iranian general, fanning fresh fears of a conflict in the crude-rich region.The head of Iran's Quds Force, Qasem Soleimani, was hit in an attack on Baghdad's international airport early Friday, according to Hased, a powerful Iraqi paramilitary force linked to Tehran.Later, Donald Trump tweeted a picture of the American flag, and the Pentagon said he had ordered Soleimani's killing. Bren

World News Jan. 3, 2020

TEHRAN (AFP) -- Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei vowed "severe revenge" after the United States killed the commander of the Islamic republic's Quds Force, General Qasem Soleimani, in Baghdad on Friday."Martyrdom was the reward for his ceaseless efforts in all these years," Khamenei said on his Farsi-language Twitter account in reference to Soleimani, also declaring three days of mourning. "With him gone, God willing, his work and his path will not be stopped,

World News Jan. 3, 2020

BEIRUT (AFP) -- Carlos Ghosn claimed Thursday he organised his dramatic escape from bail in Japan alone as the disgraced auto tycoon enjoyed his first days of freedom in Beirut despite an Interpol arrest notice.The exact circumstances of the former Renault-Nissan boss's escape from a case he said was "rigged" were unclear but media reports described a plot that had all the trappings of a spy novel.Turkey said seven people had been detained for questioning, including four pilots, over h

World News Jan. 3, 2020

BAGHDAD (AFP) -- Top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani was killed Friday in a US strike on Baghdad's international airport, Iran and the US confirmed, in a dramatic escalation of tensions between the two countries.The Pentagon said US President Donald Trump ordered Soleimani's "killing," after a pro-Iran mob this week laid siege to the US embassy.Following Soleimani's death, Trump tweeted an image of the US flag without any further explanation.The pre-dawn developments mark the most ma

World News Jan. 3, 2020

NEW YORK (AFP) -- Wall Street stocks ended at fresh records on Thursday, a buoyant start to the 2020 trading campaign that extended the late-2019 rally.The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 1.2 percent to 28,868.80.The broad-based S&P 500 gained 0.8 percent to 3,257.85, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 1.3 percent to 9,092.19, its biggest single-session gain in nearly three months.All three indices finished at all-time highs, the latest in a run of records as US-China tr

World News Jan. 3, 2020

SYDNEY (AFP) -- Australia authorised the forced evacuation of residents Thursday amid a mass exodus of tourists from fire-ravaged coastal communities, as the country braces for a weekend heatwave expected to fan deadly bushfires.Catastrophic blazes ripped through the country's south-east on New Year's Eve, killing at least eight people and stranding holidaymakers.New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian declared a seven-day state of emergency that allows for forced evacuations beginning Friday

World News Jan. 2, 2020

HONG KONG (AFP) -- A huge New Year's Day pro-democracy rally in Hong Kong ended in mass arrests and clashes between police and hardcore protesters, as demonstrators sought to carry their movement's momentum into 2020.Hong Kong has been battered by nearly seven months of unrest -- its biggest political crisis in decades -- which has seen millions come out on the streets demanding greater democratic freedoms.Organisers claimed more than a million people gathered for Wednesday's rally, which had ap

World News Jan. 2, 2020

BAGHDAD (AFP) -- Pro-Iran demonstrators left the besieged US embassy in Baghdad on Wednesday after the Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary force ordered them to withdraw a day after their dramatic incursion.Thousands of Iraqi supporters of the largely Iranian-trained Hashed had encircled and vandalised the embassy compound Tuesday, outraged by US air strikes that killed 25 Hashed fighters over the weekend.They marched unimpeded through the checkpoints of the usually high-security Green Zone to the emb

World News Jan. 2, 2020

BEIRUT/TOKYO (AFP) -- Former Nissan chief Carlos Ghosn said Tuesday he had fled to Lebanon to escape injustice in Japan, where he was on bail awaiting trial on financial misconduct charges.The auto tycoon's abrupt departure was the latest twist in a rollercoaster journey that saw him fall from boardroom to detention centre and it sparked questions over an embarrassing security lapse in Japan.In a statement, the 65-year-old tycoon said he would "no longer be held hostage by a rigged Japanese

World News Dec. 31, 2019

BAGHDAD (AFP) -- Iraq's government warned Monday that its relations with the United States were at risk after deadly American air strikes against a pro-Iran group sparked anger on the streets, with protesters torching US flags.Baghdad said it would summon the US ambassador while Washington responded by accusing Iraqi authorities of having failed to "protect" US interests.At least 25 fighters were killed in Sunday night's attacks, which saw US planes hit several bases belonging to the H

World News Dec. 31, 2019

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- Microsoft said Monday it obtained a court order allowing it to seize web domains used by North Korean hacking groups to launch cyberattacks on human rights activists, researchers and others.The US technology giant said a federal court allowed it to take control of 50 domains operated by a group dubbed Thallium, which tricked online users by fraudulently using Microsoft brands and trademarks."This network was used to target victims and then compromise their online account

World News Dec. 31, 2019

TOKYO, (AFP) -- The badly decomposed remains of seven people have been found in a suspected North Korean fishing boat that washed up on a Japanese island, a coast guard official said Sunday.The remains were found on Saturday in a broken vessel on the shore of Sado Island, which lies around 900 kilometres (560 miles) from North Korea across the Sea of Japan."Five of the bodies were identified as men but the remaining two could not be identified" as they were badly damaged, the official

North Korea Dec. 29, 2019

JAKARTA (AFP) -- Former South Korea coach Shin Tae-yong has been tapped to take over Indonesia's struggling national team, the country's football association said on Friday.Shin, who led South Korea at last year's World Cup in Russia -- where they famously ousted defending champions Germany -- is expected to be formally unveiled on Saturday."We have invited Shin to finalise the contract. After that he will be introduced later on Saturday," Mochamad Iriawan, chairman of the Football Ass

Soccer Dec. 27, 2019