Tikal (AFP) – An altar from Mexico’s ancient Teotihuacan culture, dating back to between 400 and 450 AD, has been discovered in the Guatemalan Mayan city of Tikal. Located in the jungle near the Mexico border the altar is further proof of ties between the two pre-Hispanic societies, according to archaeologists.
Peking (AFP) – China accuses the United States of “pressure, threats and blackmail” after President Donald Trump floated additional tariffs of 50 percent on the world’s second-largest economy. “Tariff wars have no winners, and protectionism has no way out,” says foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian.
Spin Boldak (AFP) – Afghans arrive at a UN migration centre in Spin Boldak in the region of Kandahar after having crossed the border from Pakistan as Islamabad ramps up pressure for them to return to their country of origin. Pakistan last month set an early April deadline for some 800,000 Afghans carrying Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC) issued by Pakistan authorities to leave the country, another phase in Islamabad’s campaign in recent years to repatriate Afghans. Human rights activists have been reporting for months the harassment and extortion of Afghans in Pakistan, a country mired in political and economic chaos.
(AFP) – In Brazil, the Groves’ Titi, a bushy-bearded monkey is listed as “critically endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Deforestation is eating away at the limited domain of the monkey known locally as zogue-zogue. Farmers clearing land for soybeans and other crops are chiefly blamed for the forest’s fate, but deforestation is not the only threat to the monkeys. Locals say one side of the animals’ territory has been cut off by flooding from a nearby hydroelectric plant run by a company partly owned by French energy giant EDF.
Bangkok (AFP) – When Phatsakon Kaewkla came home to his apartment in the Thai capital after a massive earthquake hit neighbouring Myanmar, he found gaping cracks in the walls of his home. The 23-year-old sales coordinator is now one of many Bangkok residents wondering if they should seek safer housing in a city where hundreds of residential buildings were damaged by the 7.7-magnitude quake that struck Myanmar on March 28.
Port-au-Prince (AFP) – Festival-goers in Port-au-Prince are turning out in force for the launch of the 18th edition of PapJazz, the Haitian capital’s international jazz festival. “We can’t just put up with what’s happening to us. We also need to have moments of conviviality like this, moments of creation, moments of resistance,” says Milena Sandler, the festival’s general manager.
Mexiko-Stadt (AFP) – Thousands attend a massive boxing class led by former professional boxers Julio Cesar Chavez and Oscar de la Hoya in Mexico City’s Zocalo Square. The event, also joined by Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, is part of a campaign to steer young people away from addiction and violent drug cartels.
Kairo (AFP) – President Emmanuel Macron says that France is “firmly opposed to any displacement of populations and to any annexation” in Gaza or the Israeli-occupied West Bank as he visits Cairo. Speaking during a joint press conference, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi adds that “stability and lasting peace in the Middle East will remain out of reach as long as the Palestinian issue is left without a just resolution”.
Dubai (AFP) – Nearly 200 dogs and their owners gather at Expo City Dubai to take part in the ‘Paw Power Challenge’, a 2.5-kilometre obstacle race where dog owners and their pups team up. “It’s obviously very important to always stay healthy, but we also need to ensure that our animals stay healthy as well because we both want to live a long life together,” says A.J. Amer, a participant, adding that “the race was perfect.”
Shanghai (AFP) – Asian and European equities collapse on a black Monday for markets after China hammered the United States with its own hefty tariffs, ramping up a trade war many fear could spark a recession. US President Donald Trump sparked a market meltdown when he unveiled sweeping tariffs against US trading partners for what he said was years of being ripped off. But after Asian markets closed on Friday, China said it would impose retaliatory levies of 34 percent on all US goods from April 10.
