International

MANILA, Sept 8, (RTRS): Public trust in Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte dropped to the lowest of his presidency, a survey showed on Saturday, although he still maintained a rating of “very good”. Trust is used by independent pollster Social Weather Stations (SWS) to gauge public opinion with a president’s personality. …

CAIRO, Sept 8, (AFP): An Egyptian court handed a fiveyear jail sentence to award-winning photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zeid on Saturday and confirmed death sentences against 75 people in one of the largest mass trials since the 2011 uprising. Abu Zeid, widely known as Shawkan, who earlier this year received UNESCO’s …

BAGHDAD, Sept 8, (Agencies): Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al- Abadi faced calls to resign Saturday as his alliance with a populist cleric who won May elections crumbled over deadly unrest shaking the country’s south. The two leading groups in parliament called on Abadi to step down, after lawmakers held an …

BASRA, Iraq, Sept 6, (RTRS): Iraq’s main seaport closed down on Thursday following clashes between protestors and security forces in the nearby southern city of Basra in which one demonstrator died and 25 were injured the previous night. Several hundred protesters took to Basra’s streets again on Thursday afternoon. As …

France ready to strike Syria if chem-weps used IDLIB, Syria, Sept 6, (Agencies): Hundreds of Syrian civilians fled Idlib province on Thursday as the presidents of Russia, Iran and Turkey readied for last ditch talks on the fate of the last rebel bastion. Government forces and their allies have been …

TOKYO, Sept 6, (RTRS): A powerful earthquake paralysed Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido on Thursday, killing at least nine people, triggering landslides and knocking out power to its 5.3 million residents. The death toll from the 6.7-magnitude, pre-dawn quake was likely to rise as rescuers searched houses buried by landslides. …

Police say four people are dead, including the gunman, in a downtown Cincinnati bank shooting. Police Chief Eliot Isaac said the shooter opened fire early Thursday morning at the loading dock of the Fifth Third Bank building. Isaac said the gunman then entered the bank’s lobby where he exchanged gunfire …

TEHRAN SAYS TO GO BEYOND PREVIOUS ENRICHMENT IF DEAL FAILS NEW DELHI, Sept 6, (Agencies): Washington will consider waivers for Iranian oil buyers such as India but they must eventually halt imports as sanctions are imposed on Tehran, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday. Pompeo, who is …

Kuwait great partner in anti-terror fight WASHINGTON, Sept 5, (KUNA): His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah visited US President Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday midday; he was accompanied by Chief of the National Guard Sheikh Mishaal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah and other senior officials. President …

A Philippine town mayor who was linked by the president to illegal drugs was fatally shot in his office Wednesday in the latest brazen attack on local officials. Four gunmen barged into the Ronda municipality’s town hall in Cebu province early Wednesday and repeatedly shot Mayor Mariano Blanco, who was …