AFP, Abu Dhabi
Representatives of around 40 countries are expected to approve on Saturday establishing a fund to protect heritage sites in conflict-ravaged areas and a network of safe havens for endangered artworks.
From Syria to Mali, Afghanistan to Iraq, jihadists have targeted priceless cultural heritage sites that they deem un-Islamic.
Trump invites Duterte to White House
Reuters, Manila
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump invited Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte to the White House next year during a “very engaging, animated” phone conversation, a Duterte aide said on Friday, amid rocky relations between their two countries.
Trump’s brief chat with the firebrand Philippine president follows a period of uncertainty about one of Washington’s most important Asian alliances, stoked by Duterte’s hostility toward President Barack Obama and repeated threats to sever decades-old defense ties.
Chinese mine disasters kill at least 38
Reuters, Beijing
At least 38 people have died in two separate coal mine disasters in China in the last five days, state media said, the latest accidents in a country with a poor record of industrial safety.
In the first incident, authorities confirmed on Friday night that 21 people died after a coal mine blast in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Cyprus leaders to resume peace talks
AFP, Nicosia
Rival Cypriot leaders have agreed to resume UN-backed reunification talks in what was hailed Friday as a “significant development” after negotiations broke down in Switzerland last month.
The agreement was “an important development because it removes the problems created in Mont Pelerin without consolidating the deadlock with unforeseeable consequences”, President Nicos Anastasiades said in a televised address..
