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US Democratic lawmakers visit Cuba, call on Trump to ‘bring the rhetoric down’

Two Democrats from the US House of Representatives visited Cuba last week, the first such delegation to go to the island this year since US president Donald Trump imposed a de facto oil blockade in a bid to bring Cuba's communist-run government to its knees. Congressional representatives Pramila Jayapal, a leading member of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, and Jonathan Jackson, a Democrat with a long interest in Cuba, said they had come to "see the suffering that is happening on the ground" as a result of Trump's fuel embargo, which they called "an illegal blockade of energy supplies." The lawmakers' visit comes at a time of unprecedented tension in the decades-long frosty relationship between the US and Cuba. The Trump administration has closed the tap on remittances to Cuba, threatened to slap tariffs on countries that provide oil to the island and placed it on a list of nations that sponsor terrorism. "This is the most sanctioned par...
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China executes French citizen convicted of drug trafficking

China confirmed on Sunday the execution of a French national sentenced ​to death in 2010 for drug trafficking, saying ‌it did not discriminate against defendants on the basis of nationality, a day after Paris criticised the court's handling of ​the case. The Chinese embassy in France made the ​remarks in a brief statement on the execution ⁠of 62-year-old Chan Thao Phoumy after a 20-year stint ​in jail. On Saturday, the French foreign ministry said it "particularly regretted" ​that Chan's defence was not allowed to attend the court's final hearing in violation of his rights. China, one of the world's ​toughest enforcers of laws against drug trafficking, has occasionally ​executed foreign nationals convicted of smuggling large amounts across its borders, ‌but ⁠does not release statistics on executions. Read: China moves to regulate digital humans, bans addictive services for children Chan, born in the southern city of Guangzhou but later a naturalised French citizen, was one of 89 suspects arrested in 2005 ​for drug trafficking ​before being ⁠jailed for life in 2007. He was handed the death penalty in 2010 by a ​court in his hometown for his role ​in a ⁠100-million-yuan ($15-million) drug operation that made, transported and dealt large amounts of crystal methamphetamine in China. China's threshold for the death ⁠penalty ​is 50 gm (1.8 oz) of ​heroin or methamphetamine, but trafficking in much larger amounts is generally what ​leads to execution.

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At least 32 miners dead after bridge fails at cobalt site in southeast DR Congo

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US, Philippines kick off joint military drills in South China Sea with 16,000 troops

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