AFP, Washington
US President Donald Trump is set to host Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at the White House on February 23 to “celebrate 100 years of mateship” according to a statement issued Thursday.
The pair held an infamously bad-tempered telephone call early on in Trump’s presidency, when the US leader reportedly exploded and hung up after he was told about a Barack Obama-era deal to move refugees from Australia to America.
Defiant May rejects criticism of Brexit plan
AFP, London
Prime Minister Theresa May insisted Friday she was “doing what the British people want” and going nowhere despite growing pressure from her party over her leadership and Brexit strategy.
In a BBC interview at the end of a three-day trip to China, May declined to detail exactly what she wants from negotiations on future ties with the European Union, which begin in April.
Sexual assaults in India, Pakistan heart breaking: UN
PTI, United Nations
The recent incidents of sexual assault on young girls in India and Pakistan are “heart breaking”, the spokesperson of the UN chief said, underlining that the world body is trying to address the issue through access to education and women empowerment.
He was responding to questions on recent incidents of rapes in India and Pakistan.
In India, an eight-month-old baby girl was raped last week by her 28-year-old cousin in New Delhi, a shocking incident that outraged the nation.
Russian ex-governor gets 8-year prison sentence
AP, Moscow
A court in Moscow has convicted a former provincial governor of taking a 400,000-euro ($500,000) bribe and sentenced him to eight years in prison.
Lawyers for former Kirov regional Gov. Nikita Belykh said they would appeal the verdict delivered late Thursday.
Belykh has been in custody since his June 2016 arrest while accepting the money at a Moscow restaurant. He rejected the charges as provocation.
5 killed in French army training copters crash
AP, Paris
Two French military training helicopters collided and crashed Friday in a wooded area of Provence, killing five people aboard, police said.
Officials said the crash occurred between the small towns of Cabasse and Carces, in the picturesque Var region, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Saint-Tropez.
Police cordoned off roads throughout a broad zone around the crash site, and some three dozen police and military officials were dispatched to the scene, according to a local gendarme.
