HARARE (AFP) -- Robert Mugabe has been removed as president of Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party and replaced by his former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa, a party delegate told AFP on Sunday outside a meeting in Harare."A resolution has been adopted to recall the president and elevate Mnangagwa as the party president," said the delegate, who declined to be named.This file photo taken on January 7, 2017 shows Zimbabwe's then acting President Emmerson Mnangagwa speaking during a funeral ceremony

HAVANA (AFP) -- North Korea's foreign minister is to visit Cuba on Monday in a trip that comes at a time when both Pyongyang and Havana have strained relations with Washington. Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho will meet with his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla and participate in other unspecified activities, according to a brief statement late Saturday from Cuba's foreign ministry.The visit comes as Washington and Pyongyang are locked in a dangerous standoff over North Korea's development

The leader of Zimbabwe's war veterans association, an influential voice in national politics, on Friday said President Robert Mugabe must step down at once and urged people to protest against the veteran leader.   Christopher Mutsvangwa told a press conference the "game was up" for Mugabe and his wife Grace.   He called for a huge turnout at street protests planned for Saturday in Harare.   "The generals have done a fantastic job. It's done, it's finished," he said.   "We want to restore our pri

NEW YORK  - A 500-year-old work of art -- believed to be by Leonardo da Vinci and depicting Jesus Christ -- sold in New York on Wednesday for $450.3 million, smashing a new art auction record, Christie‘s said.The whopping price dwarfed the previous record for the most expensive piece of art sold at auction, set at $179.4 million for Pablo Picasso’s “The Women of Algiers (Version O)” by Christie‘s in 2015.The auction house says “Salvator Mundi” or “Savior of the World” is one of fewer than 20 Da

LONDON (AFP) - Canadian teen singer Shawn Mendes on Sunday won best artist and best song at the MTV Europe Music Awards (EMA) in London, pipping heavyweight competitors such as Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus and Ed Sheeran.The awards ceremony at Wembley Arena, the first to be staged in the British capital in 20 years, were hosted by Rita Ora and featured performances by U2 and David Guetta.In a first for the EMAs, which were created in 1994, MTV announced categories stripped of gender in a bid to “br

Trade ministers from 11 Asia-Pacific countries agreed Saturday to press ahead with a major trade deal without the United States, as the world's largest economy seeks to go it alone under President Donald Trump's 'America First' policy.Trump pulled his country from the Trans Pacific Partnership at the start of the year, dismaying allies and casting into doubt an agreement heralded for tying lower tariffs to strong environmental and labour protections.In a joint statement Saturday morning, the rem

SUTHERLAND SPRINGS, Texas -- The United States was in mourning Monday after a gunman wearing a bulletproof vest opened fire with an assault rifle on the congregation of a smalltown Texas church, killing 26 people and wounding 20 more in the nation‘s latest shooting massacre.　Five weeks after the worst shooting in modern US history President Donald Trump said the nation was living in “dark times,” and ordered flags be flown half-staff at the White House and federal buildings in the aftermath of t

RIYADH -- Shares in Kingdom Holding, 95 percent of which is owned by Saudi billionaire Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, fell sharply Sunday after reports of his arrest.The share price of the company, which has high profile investments inside and outside Saudi Arabia, dropped 9.9 percent at the start of the week's trading. Shares are allowed to drop a maximum of 10 percent on one day.But the share price later recovered some of its losses to end the day down7.6 percent.This file photo taken on December

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump said Friday that the Islamic State group will pay a "big price" for every attack it stages against the United States, following the New York truck attack by an IS loyalist.The US military has hit IS "much harder" over the past two days after the jihadist group claimed the attacker was one of their soldiers, Trump said."They will pay a big price for every attack on us!" Trump wrote on Twitter. The New York attack Tuesday left eight dead and 12 wounded. (AFP)

KUALA LUMPUR - Alibaba launched an electronic trading hub in Malaysia Friday aimed at helping small- and medium-sized businesses, a first for the Chinese internet giant outside its home country.The hub, part of a "digital free trade zone" near Kuala Lumpur International Airport, went live during a ceremony attended by Alibaba founder Jack Ma and Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.It was the latest move by Alibaba into Southeast Asia, one of the world's hottest e-commerce battlegrounds. The com

JUBA -- The United States' ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, arrived in Juba on Wednesday, seeking a solution to a nearly four-year conflict that has created a devastating humanitarian crisis.Haley, the most senior official sent to Africa by the Trump administration, is on a tour that has also taken her to Ethiopia and will include Democratic Republic of Congo.South Sudan's foreign ministry spokesman, Mawien Makol, said Haley would hold talks with President Salva Kiir. US Ambassador to the Unit

WELLINGTON (AFP) - Overseas buyers will no longer be allowed to purchase existing homes in New Zealand, Prime Minister-elect Jacinda Ardern said Tuesday, as she unveiled a raft of policy deals made with her coalition partners.   The move to tackle soaring property prices was agreed during lengthy negotiations between the Labour Party leader and populist powerbroker Winston Peters to form a new government that also includes the Green Party. New Zealand's Labour party leader Jacinda Ardern speaks

The computer that stunned humanity by beating the best mortal players at a strategy board game requiring "intuition" has become even smarter, its makers said Wednesday.Even more startling, the updated version of AlphaGo is entirely self-taught -- a major step towards the rise of machines that achieve superhuman abilities "with no human input", they reported in the science journal Nature.  (DeepMind-Yonhap)Dubbed AlphaGo Zero, the Artificial Intelligence (AI) system learnt by itself, within days,

More than 3,000 civilians have fled the Islamic State group's former Syrian stronghold Raqa, a spokesman for the US-backed force on the verge of capturing the city told AFP Sunday.Civilians flee Syria's Raqa on Sunday. (Yonhap)"More than 3,000 civilians left on Saturday night as part of a deal and went to areas controlled by the Syrian Democratic Forces," said Talal Sello, spokesman for the militia.He said Raqa was now "completely free of civilians," with the exception of the families of IS figh

The People's Daily, the mouthpiece of China's ruling Communist Party, launched an English-language mobile application on Sunday in what it called a "strategic step" to strengthen Beijing's influence internationally. The newspaper, which sold an average of 3.18 million copies a day in 2016, launched a Chinese app three years ago that it says has been downloaded 200 million times,   but it did not yet have an app in English for mobile phones.The app launch comes ahead of a key party congress expec

Roger Federer got one over his old rival Rafael Nadal to win the Shanghai Masters 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday in a showdown between the two best players on the planet.It was a 94th title for the Swiss legend, drawing him level with the great Ivan Lendl, and closes the gap on world number one Nadal at the top of the rankings as the season reaches its conclusion.In-form Nadal was ahead in their overall record down the years, with 23 wins to Federer's 14, but he was up against it almost right away. Number t

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was due to hold an emergency session Saturday to discuss kicking out Harvey Weinstein amid mounting sexual harassment, assault and rape accusations.(EPA)An avalanche of claims have surfaced since the publication last week of an explosive New York Times report alleging a history of abusive behavior dating back decades.On Thursday, American actress Rose McGowan became the fourth woman to accuse the 65-year-old of raping her.The Academy issued a state

BRUSSELS -- NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told AFP on Friday that a military intervention against North Korea would have "devastating consequences," after US President Donald Trump said diplomatic efforts had failed.Stoltenberg, who will visit South Korea and Japan in the coming weeks as a show of support, stressed that Washington had the right to defend itself and its allies, but called for greater diplomatic efforts.  NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg (AFP)"The use of military force will have devastat

BRUSSELS -- The European Union on Tuesday extended sanctions aimed at punishing North Korea for its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, banning the import of textiles from the pariah state and limiting sales of crude oil.The 28-member bloc adopted UN restrictions imposed by the Security Council last month to punish Pyongyang for its sixth and largest nuclear test into its own sanctions program. (Yonhap)The North reacted furiously when the United Nations approved the new measures, saying its

PARIS (AFP) - With a wave of films, television series and art shows championing “gender fluidity” -- and catwalks awash with “gender neutral” models and clothes -- the old dividing line between the sexes is being increasingly called into question.But as the blurring of boundaries has gone from the margins to being a progressive cause, the political temperature of the debate has risen sharply.Gender fluidity has become a hot-button issue in the culture wars between liberals and conservatives, oft