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  • Beirut (AFP) - 12/25/2017 - 08:18

    IS claims deadly attack near Kabul spy agency

  • Kabul (AFP) - 12/25/2017 - 05:39

    At least five dead in suicide attack near Afghan spy agency: officials

  • Lima (AFP) - 12/25/2017 - 01:21

    Peru's ailing ex-president Fujimori pardoned: statement

  • Guatemala City (AFP) - 12/25/2017 - 00:50

    Guatemala to move embassy to Jerusalem: president

  • Tunis (AFP) - 12/24/2017 - 20:59

    Tunisia suspends Emirates flights after security measures

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    N. Korea slams new UN sanctions as an "act of war": state media

  • Davao (Philippines) (AFP) - 12/23/2017 - 23:25

    37 feared dead in Philippine mall blaze: vice mayor

  • Manila (AFP) - 12/23/2017 - 18:50

    Philippines storm death toll climbs to 182: police

  • Harare (AFP) - 12/23/2017 - 13:15

    Zimbabwe's ex-army chief named ruling party VP: official

  • Moscow (AFP) - 12/23/2017 - 12:33

    Moscow warns US decision to arm Ukraine could cause 'new bloodshed'

  • Manila (AFP) - 12/23/2017 - 09:29

    Storm death toll in Philippines climbs to 133: govt

  • Manila (AFP) - 12/23/2017 - 07:11

    Philippines storm death toll rises to 74, many missing: govt

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    2017 Mexico's most violent year in two decades: officials

  • Manila (AFP) - 12/23/2017 - 02:55

    Philippines tropical storm toll climbs to 30: officials

  • Washington (AFP) - 12/22/2017 - 22:03

    'World wants Peace, not Death,' Trump says as UN sanctions N.Korea

  • Tegucigalpa (AFP) - 12/22/2017 - 19:50

    Honduras opposition candidate admits defeat in disputed poll

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    UN Security Council unanimously backs new sanctions on N.Korea

  • Washington (AFP) - 12/22/2017 - 17:22

    Trump signs sweeping tax overhaul, sealing major victory

  • Brasília (AFP) - 12/22/2017 - 16:45

    Brazil intends to maintain control over Embraer: Temer

  • Moscow (AFP) - 12/22/2017 - 15:39

    Russia's partial Syria withdrawal 'carried out': defence minister

  • Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - 12/22/2017 - 15:28

    2nd Palestinian dead in Israel-Gaza border clashes: ministry

  • Washington (AFP) - 12/22/2017 - 15:28

    US congratulates Hernandez on 'victory' in disputed Honduras vote

  • Madrid (AFP) - 12/22/2017 - 14:32

    Spain PM rejects ousted Catalan leader's call to meet

  • Kampala (AFP) - 12/22/2017 - 14:12

    Ugandan army says it attacked rebel camps in eastern DR Congo

  • Moscow (AFP) - 12/22/2017 - 13:41

    Russia must be 'absolute leader' in building new military: Putin

  • Moscow (AFP) - 12/22/2017 - 13:30

    Putin slams 'aggressive' new US defence strategy

  • Astana (Kazakhstan) (AFP) - 12/22/2017 - 13:24

    Syria congress to take place in Sochi Jan 29-30: statement

  • Gaza City (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - 12/22/2017 - 13:23

    Gazan killed by Israeli fire in clash on border: health ministry

  • Brussels (AFP) - 12/22/2017 - 13:13

    Ousted Catalan leader demands 'to be heard' by EU

  • Brussels (AFP) - 12/22/2017 - 12:36

    Ousted Catalan leader offers to meet PM outside Spain

  • Moscow (AFP) - 12/22/2017 - 11:26

    Russia ready for 'dialogue' with Britain on equal terms: Lavrov

  • Paris (AFP) - 12/22/2017 - 11:25

    US has 'marginalised itself' in Israeli-Palestinian conflict: Macron

  • Paris (AFP) - 12/22/2017 - 11:18

    Abbas says Palestinians won't accept any US peace plan

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Artist 'released' in China after Liu Xiaobo tribute

HANDOUT/AFP / Handout Chinese Artist Hu Jiamin disappeared shortly after he painted this mural in Shenzhen

An artist that could not be reached for more than a week after he painted a politically charged mural in southern China wrote on Twitter Monday that he has been "released".

"I was released a few days ago and we are in my hometown now," the Twitter account of painter Hu Jiamin read days after Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao reported that the couple had been taken away by plainclothes men.

Hu noted in another post that he will return to France on December 30.

The artist and his French wife, Marine Brossard, had painted a mural honouring China's late dissident Liu Xiaobo at the entrance of a public exhibition in Shenzhen on December 15.

But city authorities covered the wall with a banner the same evening, witnesses told AFP.

Their painting depicted an empty blue chair inside a room with red bars, an apparent reference to Liu.

The veteran Chinese rights activist was in prison when he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 and was represented at the award ceremony by an empty blue chair.

He died of liver cancer in July while serving a prison sentence for "subversion" making China the first country to see a Nobel laureate die in custody since Nazi Germany.

References to Liu are heavily censored in China.

Brossard is a French national, but Hu's nationality is unclear, a friend who has known them for over five years said.

The couple had travelled from their home in the French city of Lyon to participate in the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Biennale of Urbanism Architecture, witnesses who spoke with the couple in Shenzhen told AFP.

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News

Artist 'released' in China after Liu Xiaobo tribute

HANDOUT/AFP / Handout Chinese Artist Hu Jiamin disappeared shortly after he painted this mural in Shenzhen

An artist that could not be reached for more than a week after he painted a politically charged mural in southern China wrote on Twitter Monday that he has been "released".

"I was released a few days ago and we are in my hometown now," the Twitter account of painter Hu Jiamin read days after Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao reported that the couple had been taken away by plainclothes men.

Hu noted in another post that he will return to France on December 30.

The artist and his French wife, Marine Brossard, had painted a mural honouring China's late dissident Liu Xiaobo at the entrance of a public exhibition in Shenzhen on December 15.

But city authorities covered the wall with a banner the same evening, witnesses told AFP.

Their painting depicted an empty blue chair inside a room with red bars, an apparent reference to Liu.

The veteran Chinese rights activist was in prison when he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2010 and was represented at the award ceremony by an empty blue chair.

He died of liver cancer in July while serving a prison sentence for "subversion" making China the first country to see a Nobel laureate die in custody since Nazi Germany.

References to Liu are heavily censored in China.

Brossard is a French national, but Hu's nationality is unclear, a friend who has known them for over five years said.

The couple had travelled from their home in the French city of Lyon to participate in the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Biennale of Urbanism Architecture, witnesses who spoke with the couple in Shenzhen told AFP.

HANDOUT/AFP / Handout Chinese Artist Hu Jiamin disappeared shortly after he painted this mural in Shenzhen

An artist that could not be reached for more than a week after he painted a politically charged mural in southern China wrote on Twitter Monday that he has been "released".

"I was released a few days ago and we are in my hometown now," the Twitter account of painter Hu Jiamin read days after Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao reported that the couple had been taken away by plainclothes men.

25 Dec 2017

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