Brexit talks face Irish hurdle at EU summit
AFP, Salzburg
Prime Minister Theresa May will confront European leaders Wednesday over the fate of the Irish border when Britain quits the EU next year, as Brexit talks enter a final three month scramble.
May will have a short opportunity to address EU leaders meeting at an informal summit in the Austrian city of Salzburg at their evening dinner, before a full day of talks on Thursday dominated by Brexit and the migration crisis.
Vatican may send delegation to China
AFP, Hong Kong
The Vatican could send a delegation to China by the end of the month, Beijing’s state-run media said Tuesday, with the visit potentially paving the way for a historic agreement on the appointment of bishops.
Beijing and the Vatican severed ties in 1951, two years after the Communist party seized power in China.
The decades-long standoff has split China’s roughly 12 million Catholics between those who follow government-approved prelates and those in “underground” pro-Rome churches.
Albania urged to continue reform progress
AP, Tirana, Albania
Germany’s foreign minister on Wednesday called on Albania to work hard on its reforms so as to convince all European Union members to launch membership negotiations next year.
Heiko Maas, visiting Albania’s capital, said that the EU members have made it clear that the target of June 2019 does not mean talks will automatically start then.
In June this year the bloc’s member states agreed to open membership talks with Albania and Macedonia next year if the two nations continue with reform progress.
French senators grill Macron aide
AFP, Paris
French senators on Wednesday grilled President Emmanuel Macron’s disgraced former security aide Alexandre Benalla over an assault scandal that tarnished Emmanuel Macron’s reputation.
Alexandre Benalla made global headlines in July after Le Monde newspaper revealed him as the man filmed roughing up demonstrators at a May Day rally in Paris, apparently posing as a police officer with a police helmet and armband.
Philippines typhoon death toll rises to 81
AFP, Manila
The death toll in the Philippines from Typhoon Mangkhut has climbed to 81 and could hit triple digits as searchers dig through a landslide where dozens are presumed dead, authorities said Wednesday.
Mangkhut swamped farm fields in the nation’s agricultural north and smashed houses when it tore through at the weekend with violent winds and heavy rains.
Since then the toll has climbed mostly due to the corpses recovered from the massive landslide in the mining town of Itogon where dozens are still believed buried under the mud.
