British royal Meghan Markle recounted her own struggles to afford university as she passionately promoted female education to Fijian students in her first speech of the Oceania royal tour Wednesday.The pregnant American-born wife of Britain's Prince Harry took centre stage at the University of the South Pacific to push the case for open access to education, particularly for women."For women and girls in developing countries this is vital," she said. "Providing them with access to education is th

Rebecca Witzofsky, a 20-year-old deaf student at Gallaudet University in Washington, and her hearing friend Nikolas Carapellatti wanted to get a coffee. But on Tuesday, Witzofsky finally didn't have to struggle to make her order understood.US coffee giant Starbucks opened its first "signing store" in the United States in northeast Washington near the campus of Gallaudet, the world's only university with an entire curriculum designed to accommodate the deaf and hard-of-hearing.At the store, all s

Thousands of Honduran migrants heading to the United States -- a caravan President Donald Trump has called an "assault on our country" -- stopped to rest Tuesday after walking for two days into Mexican territory.Sleeping on cardboard boxes or plastic bags, the migrants set up a massive, impromptu camp in the southern town of Huixtla, 70 kilometers (45 miles) from the Mexico-Guatemala border.Many nursed bleeding feet mangled by 10 days of walking nearly 800 kilometers in plastic shoes or flip-flo

President Donald Trump said Monday the United States will start cutting aid to three Central American countries as a caravan of thousands of mostly Honduran migrants rolled on toward the US border.The United Nations said more than 7,000 people were now heading toward the United States, as more migrants joined the original group, including some Central Americans who were already in Mexico.Trump meanwhile kept up his almost-daily Twitter attacks on the approaching caravan, calling it a national em

DUNDO, Angola (AFP) -- About 380,000 illegal migrants, mostly from the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, have left Angola in less than a month during a massive operation targeting diamond smuggling, a minister said Saturday.On a visit to Dundo in northern Angola on the border with DR Congo, Pedro Sebastiao dismissed allegations that the migrants had been violently expelled and often beaten by police. Congolese migrants who were living in Angola gather near the Congolese border town of K

KABUL (AFP) -- Problems plagued hundreds of Afghan polling centres Sunday in the shambolic legislative election's second day of voting, fuelling criticism of organisers and eroding hopes for credible results after a ballot marred by deadly violence.As voters once again braved the threat of militant attacks, an AFP tally of casualty figures from across the war-torn country showed the number of civilians and security forces killed or wounded in polling-related violence on Saturday was nearly 300.T

YILAN, Taiwan - At least 17 people have died after a train derailed and flipped over in Taiwan Sunday, authorities said.The Taiwan Railways Administration confirmed the toll and said more than 70 people had also been injured in the accident in northeastern Yilan county.At least five carriages had flipped over and were lying on their side, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.Images from the site showed the high-speed Puyuma Express train completely derailed and lying zig-zagged across the t

BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) -- Lionel Messi is expected to be out for three weeks after fracturing his right arm during Barcelona's win over Sevilla on Saturday.Messi will now miss Barca's Champions League game at home to Inter Milan on Wednesday, as well as the season's first Clasico four days later against Real Madrid.A Barcelona club statement read: "Tests carried out on Leo Messi have confirmed that he has a fracture of the radial bone in his right arm. He will be out for approximately three week

CIUDAD HIDALGO, Mexico (AFP) -- Mexican authorities allowed dozens of women and children from a US-bound Honduran migrant caravan to enter the country Saturday but thousands remain stranded on a border bridge between Guatemala and Mexico where riot police barred their progress.Mexico’s ambassador to Guatemala Luis Manuel Lopez told AFP the women and children would be processed by immigration authorities and taken to a shelter in the city of Tapachula, 40 kilometers (25 miles) away.Hundreds of ot

German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz said in an interview for publication Sunday he backed a global minimum fiscal regime for multinationals as Europe looks to levy tax notably on US tech giants."We need a minumum tax rate valid globally which no state can get out of (applying)," Scholz, a social democrat in conservative Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government, told the "Welt am Sonntag" weekly.Europe is trying to devise a strategy to tax profits from the likes of Google, Amazon, Facebook

A Taliban-claimed attack on the top US commander in Afghanistan and senior Afghan security officials Thursday killed at least three people and sent the government scrambling to secure the country's restive south.There are fears the attack in the southern province of Kandahar could derail US efforts to engage the group in peace talks and parliamentary elections scheduled for October 20. (AFP)US and NATO commander General Scott Miller was not hurt in the attack inside a heavily fortified governmen

European leaders sought to build support from Asia Thursday in defence of free trade and the fight against climate change, to counter the growing protectionism of President Donald Trump's America.The 28 EU states were joined at a summit in Brussels by more than 20 Asian leaders including Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, Japan's Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. (AFP)Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is also attending, despite tensions over Moscow's alleged cyber attacks on inte

At the Indian temple that is the focus of a battle over gender equality, Hindu hardliners are in festive mood, successful -- so far -- in their bid to keep women out.A supreme court decision to end a ban on women of "menstruating age" -- those between 10 and 50 years -- at the Sabarimala Temple in Kerala has sparked violent demonstrations on the roads leading to the site. (AFP)Traditionalists have threatened women trying to get to the complex and have clashed with police officers sent to enforce

Eighteen people died and dozens more were wounded, mostly teenagers, Wednesday when a student opened fire at a college in Russian-annexed Crimea.Speaking to journalists and parents of missing students in the city of Kerch, where the shooting took place, Crimean leader Sergei Aksyonov said the death toll stood at 18 plus the killer. (AP)He added that 53 people were injured in the attack. 12 of whom were in an extremely serious condition.Russia's Investigative Committee named the shooter as 18-yea

MOSCOW - Thirteen people were killed and 50 more wounded on Wednesday, most of them teenagers, after a blast tore into a college canteen in Russian-annexed Crimea in what Moscow called a "terrorist" attack.Russia's Investigative Committee, which probes major incidents, said it had "opened a criminal case into a terrorist attack" after an "unidentified explosive device" went off in the polytechnical college in Kerch city. A rescuer carries an injured victim of a blast at at a college in the city

BERLIN - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday that there was "still a chance" for an accord with Britain to leave the EU but that Berlin was preparing for a no-deal Brexit. German chancellor Angela Merkel arrives for a session of the German parliament ahead of an EU summit focused on Brexit, on October 17, 2018 in Berlin. (AFP)"There is still a chance to achieve a good and sustainable exit accord," Merkel told parliament ahead of a crunch EU summit in Brussels that will focus on Brexit

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) -- Billionaire Paul Allen, who founded US software giant Microsoft with Bill Gates in the 1970s, died Monday after his latest battle with cancer. He was 65."My brother was a remarkable individual on every level. While most knew Paul Allen as a technologist and philanthropist, for us he was a much loved brother and uncle, and an exceptional friend," Allen's sister Jody said in a statement."Paul's family and friends were blessed to experience his wit, warmth, his generosity and

 IMMINGHAM, United Kingdom (AFP) -- Brexit has brought hope to the windswept docks of the Humber River, a key goods gateway in northeast England where tens of millions of pounds are being invested to prepare for a potential increase in shipping.In Immingham, a gritty town of around 11,000 inhabitants in the shadow of the sprawling port and oil refineries, former dock worker Willie Weir said business was already "picking up". (AFP)"I think we'll end up a very rich country," the 54-year-old, who n

Canada will end its pot prohibition Wednesday with the goals of curbing the black market and use by youth, amid concerns around the public health and safety merits of legalization.Public health officials contend that smoking cannabis is as harmful as tobacco, but welcome the opportunity legalization affords for open dialogue.Police, meanwhile, are scrambling to prepare for a predicted rise in drug-impaired driving and are not yet ready to lay three new charges, which require blood tests within t

SYDNEY (AFP) -- Prince Harry and Meghan touched down in Sydney on Monday, kicking off a bumper Pacific tour that is the British royals' first major outing abroad as a couple.The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived in a wet and wintery Australia after a weekend spent celebrating the marriage of their relative Princess Eugenie to a wine merchant. Prince Harry and Meghan are set to visit Australia, Fiji, Tonga and New Zealand on their first major trip abroad as a couple (AFP)The more than two week o