International

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan: At least 20 people were killed by flash floods in southern Afghanistan´s Kandahar province, the UN said Saturday, as heavy rains swept away homes and vehicles and potentially damaged thousands of houses. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said widespread flooding inundated Kandahar city and surrounding districts in the province, with 97mm of rain …

Omar Zwak, the spokesman for the provincial governor, said 16 other troops were wounded in the 17-hour battle that ended on Friday night in Washer district. Qari Yusouf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, in a statement, said the insurgent group was responsible for the attack, which came even as Taliban negotiators met for talks with a US peace envoy in the …

The Canadian Department of Justice has said that Ottawa had decided to grant authorization to proceed with the extradition process in Huawei Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou’s case. The Chinese Foreign Ministry said Saturday that Beijing expressed opposition to Canada’s decision on Meng Wanzhou extradition to the United States. “The Chinese side has expressed its extreme discontent and decisive protest …

US President Donald Trump said Friday that he had asked “China to immediately remove all Tariffs” on US agricultural goods, stressing that Washington has delayed the 1 March deadline on its planned tariff hike. “I have asked China to immediately remove all Tariffs on our agricultural products (including beef, pork, etc.) based on the fact that we are moving along …

OUTSIDE BAGHOUZ, Syria (AP) — The Latest on the conflict in Syria (all times local): Syrian activists and a war monitor say at least seven people have been killed in a suicide bombing inside a restaurant in the northwestern city of Idlib. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at a city restaurant …

OUTSIDE BAGHOUZ, Syria (AP) — The ground assault into the last area held by the Islamic State group intensified Saturday as U.S.-backed Syrian fighters made “remarkable progress” amid heavy clashes, including the capture of a hill overlooking a tent encampment for the extremists, officials with the Kurdish-led forces said. The capture of the last pocket still held by IS fighters …

NEW YORK (AP) — The Latest on Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who is making a second run for the Democratic presidential nomination (all times local): Bernie Sanders is launching his second presidential campaign with a call for Americans from all walks of life to join his fight for a political revolution, one he’s been waging for four decades. Sanders is …

The United States has been pressing Turkey, its NATO ally, to reject a plan to purchase Russia’s cutting-edge S-400 missile systems, which Turkey estimates to be three times cheaper than a $3.5 billion order for US anti-aircraft weapons. Turkey has rejected the offer by the United States on the sale of US long-range surface-to-air Patriot missile systems until the end …

WASHINGTON : One by one, the Republican senators floated their ideas. They were trying to find a way out of a seemingly impossible dilemma: how to support President Donald Trump’s U.S.-Mexico border wall without approving the national emergency declaration he invoked to build it. And one by one, during a private lunchtime meeting that ran hot at times, they found …

HANOI — South Korean President Moon Jae-in put a brave face on the situation Friday morning. In a nationally televised address for a public holiday, he said the collapse of a high-stakes summit between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un only made South Korea’s role “more important” to help the two sides reach “a complete settlement by …