AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

Niigata, Japan, Feb 21 - Harunori Kojima still remembers the hot tears of joy that warmed his face against the sleet as he watched two Soviet ships set sail in December 1959 from Japan's Niigata port.Destination: North Korea, which lured nearly 100,000

Wellington, New Zealand, Feb 21 - The Pacific nation of Vanuatu has announced plans to ban disposable diapers in a move it says will significantly reduce pollution. Foreign Minister Ralph Regenvanu announced the ban at a conference in Port Vila this

Vatican City, Vatican City State, Feb 21 - Pope Francis kicks off a red-letter global child protection summit Thursday for reflections on the sex abuse crisis, while victims tired of hearing pledges for change clamour for incisive reforms.The pontiff

DHAKA, Feb 21 - At least 69 people have died in a huge blaze that tore through apartment buildings also used as chemical warehouses in an old part of the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, fire officials said Thursday. Dozens of people were trapped in the buildings,

New Delhi, India, Feb 20 - Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Indian leader Narendra Modi vowed Wednesday to increase pressure on countries that fuel terrorism.The promise came as fallout from a suicide bomb attack that India has blamed

LONDON, United Kingdom, Feb 20 - Britain will strip citizenship from a UK teenager who joined the Islamic State group in Syria but now wants to return home with her newborn baby, a lawyer for her family said Tuesday. Shamima Begum's fate has stirred

Bamako, Mali, Feb 20 - A senior government official and a journalist abducted by suspected jihadists in Mali have been freed, a security source told AFP on Tuesday.Makan Doumbia, the prefect of Tenenkou commune in central Mali, "was freed Monday thanks

New York, United States, Feb 19 - Once dismissed by many as a fringe candidate with wacky socialist ideas, Bernie Sanders campaigned to the brink of the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016 and has now set his sights on the White House once again.