News in Brief
MOSCOW (Reuters) -- There are no talks yet about any potential new meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying Sunday by state run RIA news agency.
Putin will have a chance to speak with Trump on the sidelines of upcoming international events but nothing is planned in the near future, Peskov said.
"So this is more a mid-term perspective ... The second part of the year," RIA quoted him as saying.
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TRUJILLO, Peru (Reuters) -- A key U.S. cardinal distanced himself from comments by Pope Francis on sexual abuse, saying they had caused "great pain,” a remarkable move pointing to divisions in the Roman Catholic Church over how to treat accusers.
The implicit public rebuke of the pope by one of his top advisers came after two days of pointed attacks from victims and their advocates, and was another setback for Francis’ attempts to come to grips with sexual abuse in the Church.
Cardinal Sean O‘Malley of Boston said in an unusually blunt statement that "it is understandable” that the pope’s comments in Chile on Thursday were "a source of great pain for survivors of sexual abuse by clergy or any other perpetrator.”
In response to a question from a reporter on accusations against Juan Barros, a Chilean bishop appointed by the pope in 2015 who is accused of protecting a pedophile, the pope said:
"The day I see proof against Bishop Barros, then I will talk. There is not a single piece of evidence against him. It is all slander. Is that clear?”
The pope’s comments appearing to dismiss the credibility of accusers was widely criticized by victims, their advocates and newspaper editorials in Chile and the pope’s native Argentina.
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BEIJING (AFP) -- Beijing said it had dispatched a warship to drive away a U.S. missile destroyer which had "violated" its sovereignty by sailing close to a shoal in the disputed South China Sea.
The USS Hopper sailed within 12 nautical miles of Huangyan Island on the night of January 17 without alerting Beijing, the foreign ministry said, referring to the shoal by its Chinese name.
Also known as Scarborough Shoal, the ring of reefs lies about 230 kilometers from the Philippines in the South China Sea, where Beijing's claims are hotly contested by other nations.
The U.S. vessel "violated China's sovereignty and security interests", and put the safety of nearby Chinese vessels "under grave threat," foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said.
China's defense ministry said in a separate statement that a Chinese frigate "immediately took actions to identify and verify the U.S. ship and drove it away by warning" it.
***
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica (AFP) -- Jamaica has declared a state of emergency in the island's second city Montego Bay, where authorities are battling to stem a wave of killings.
Tourists have been urged to remain in their resorts following the declaration by Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Thursday, resulting in the deployment of thousands of members of the military and police in the city of 200,000, home to some of the biggest and most luxurious resorts on the island.
The move came days after the United States upgraded its travel advisory to its citizens. Canada and Great Britain issued warnings following the declaration of emergency.
Montego Bay has seen its murder rate rise over several years with a record 335 deaths in 2017, most tied to gang violence, and an illegal lottery scam that has fleeced hundreds of mostly older Americans out of millions of dollars.
Jamaica, with a population of 2.7 million, recorded 43 murders per 100,000 in 2015, one of the world's highest rates.
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LOS ANGELES (AFP) -- Leading Zimbabwe opposition figure Roy Bennett, one of long-time president Robert Mugabe's most outspoken critics, has died in a helicopter crash in a remote area of the US state of New Mexico, authorities said Thursday. He was 60.
Bennett was killed along with his wife Heather and three other people after the helicopter went down on Wednesday, New Mexico state police said.
A crash survivor called 911 for help but could not say where in the mountainous region the wreckage was located. After a frantic search the crash was found ablaze at a ranch about 16km east of the town of Raton.
State police officers at the scene "reported the helicopter wreckage had been engulfed in fire making identification difficult," the NMSP statement read but confirmed that Bennett, 60, and his 55-year-old wife were among the victims.
Bennett, who had been largely based in South Africa in recent years, sprang to prominence as the treasurer of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), led by Morgan Tsvangirai.
***
PARIS (AP) -- France's Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has decided to withdraw Paris's candidacy to host the 2025 World Expo.
In comments published Sunday by weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, Philippe said he has doubts about the economic viability of the project and fear unexpected additional expenses in the context of public budget cuts.
He also stresses the lack of private partners involved in the project.
The remaining candidates for the 2025 World Expo are Yekaterinburg in Russia, Osaka in Japan and Baku in Azerbaijan.
Philippe formally announced his decision in a letter he sent earlier to those organizing Paris's candidacy. Paris will host the 2024 Olympic Games.
Putin will have a chance to speak with Trump on the sidelines of upcoming international events but nothing is planned in the near future, Peskov said.
"So this is more a mid-term perspective ... The second part of the year," RIA quoted him as saying.
***
TRUJILLO, Peru (Reuters) -- A key U.S. cardinal distanced himself from comments by Pope Francis on sexual abuse, saying they had caused "great pain,” a remarkable move pointing to divisions in the Roman Catholic Church over how to treat accusers.
The implicit public rebuke of the pope by one of his top advisers came after two days of pointed attacks from victims and their advocates, and was another setback for Francis’ attempts to come to grips with sexual abuse in the Church.
Cardinal Sean O‘Malley of Boston said in an unusually blunt statement that "it is understandable” that the pope’s comments in Chile on Thursday were "a source of great pain for survivors of sexual abuse by clergy or any other perpetrator.”
In response to a question from a reporter on accusations against Juan Barros, a Chilean bishop appointed by the pope in 2015 who is accused of protecting a pedophile, the pope said:
"The day I see proof against Bishop Barros, then I will talk. There is not a single piece of evidence against him. It is all slander. Is that clear?”
The pope’s comments appearing to dismiss the credibility of accusers was widely criticized by victims, their advocates and newspaper editorials in Chile and the pope’s native Argentina.
***
BEIJING (AFP) -- Beijing said it had dispatched a warship to drive away a U.S. missile destroyer which had "violated" its sovereignty by sailing close to a shoal in the disputed South China Sea.
The USS Hopper sailed within 12 nautical miles of Huangyan Island on the night of January 17 without alerting Beijing, the foreign ministry said, referring to the shoal by its Chinese name.
Also known as Scarborough Shoal, the ring of reefs lies about 230 kilometers from the Philippines in the South China Sea, where Beijing's claims are hotly contested by other nations.
The U.S. vessel "violated China's sovereignty and security interests", and put the safety of nearby Chinese vessels "under grave threat," foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said.
China's defense ministry said in a separate statement that a Chinese frigate "immediately took actions to identify and verify the U.S. ship and drove it away by warning" it.
***
MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica (AFP) -- Jamaica has declared a state of emergency in the island's second city Montego Bay, where authorities are battling to stem a wave of killings.
Tourists have been urged to remain in their resorts following the declaration by Prime Minister Andrew Holness on Thursday, resulting in the deployment of thousands of members of the military and police in the city of 200,000, home to some of the biggest and most luxurious resorts on the island.
The move came days after the United States upgraded its travel advisory to its citizens. Canada and Great Britain issued warnings following the declaration of emergency.
Montego Bay has seen its murder rate rise over several years with a record 335 deaths in 2017, most tied to gang violence, and an illegal lottery scam that has fleeced hundreds of mostly older Americans out of millions of dollars.
Jamaica, with a population of 2.7 million, recorded 43 murders per 100,000 in 2015, one of the world's highest rates.
***
LOS ANGELES (AFP) -- Leading Zimbabwe opposition figure Roy Bennett, one of long-time president Robert Mugabe's most outspoken critics, has died in a helicopter crash in a remote area of the US state of New Mexico, authorities said Thursday. He was 60.
Bennett was killed along with his wife Heather and three other people after the helicopter went down on Wednesday, New Mexico state police said.
A crash survivor called 911 for help but could not say where in the mountainous region the wreckage was located. After a frantic search the crash was found ablaze at a ranch about 16km east of the town of Raton.
State police officers at the scene "reported the helicopter wreckage had been engulfed in fire making identification difficult," the NMSP statement read but confirmed that Bennett, 60, and his 55-year-old wife were among the victims.
Bennett, who had been largely based in South Africa in recent years, sprang to prominence as the treasurer of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), led by Morgan Tsvangirai.
***
PARIS (AP) -- France's Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has decided to withdraw Paris's candidacy to host the 2025 World Expo.
In comments published Sunday by weekly newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, Philippe said he has doubts about the economic viability of the project and fear unexpected additional expenses in the context of public budget cuts.
He also stresses the lack of private partners involved in the project.
The remaining candidates for the 2025 World Expo are Yekaterinburg in Russia, Osaka in Japan and Baku in Azerbaijan.
Philippe formally announced his decision in a letter he sent earlier to those organizing Paris's candidacy. Paris will host the 2024 Olympic Games.