Taiwan applauds expanded U.S. ties
TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan on Saturday cheered a new U.S. law that encourages expanded contacts between officials from Washington and the self-governing island democracy that China claims as its own and has increasingly sought to isolate diplomatically.
Taiwan's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that after the signing of the Taiwan Travel Act, the island's government would "continue to uphold the principles of mutual trust and mutual benefit to maintain close contact and communication with the U.S."
President Donald Trump on Friday signed the law introduced by Ohio Republican Steve Chabot.
China protested the law. It said it violates U.S. commitments not to restore direct official contacts with Taiwan that were severed when Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.
On Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang demanded Washington "handle Taiwan-related issues properly and cautiously so as to avoid causing any major disruption or damage to the China-U.S. relations."
A statement issued Saturday by the Chinese Embassy in Washington made similar claims and urged the U.S. to "stop pursuing any official ties with Taiwan or improving its current relations with Taiwan in any substantive way."
Diphtheria adding to misery in Yemen
CAIRO -- The World Health Organization says a diphtheria outbreak in war-torn Yemen has spread rapidly and infected more than 1,300 people.
The health organization said in a statement that children and young adults account for almost 80 percent of cases and more than 70 people have died.
Diphtheria, first reported in Yemen in October, is a contagious and potentially fatal disease that primarily infects the throat and airways.
WHO said Friday that a vaccination campaign targeting 2.7 million Yemeni children has been completed in 11 governorates.
Yemen has been engulfed in a civil war pitting a Saudi-led coalition backing an internationally recognized government against Iran-backed Shiite rebels since March 2015.
The near three-year stalemated war has damaged Yemen's infrastructure, crippled the health system and pushed it to the brink of famine.
Vatican unveils Benedict's full letter
VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican bowed to pressure Saturday and released the complete letter by Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI about Pope Francis after facing blistering criticism for selectively citing it in a news release and digitally manipulating a photograph of it.
The previously hidden part of the letter provides the real explanation why Benedict refused to provide commentary on a new Vatican-published compilation of books about Francis' theological and philosophical background that was released to mark his fifth anniversary as pope.
Benedict noted that one of the authors involved in the project had opened "virulent," "anti-papist" attacks against his papacy and teaching. He said he was "surprised" the Vatican had chosen the theologian to be included in the 11-volume The Theology of Pope Francis.
The Vatican's Secretariat for Communications said Saturday that it was releasing the full text of the letter because of the controversy over the "presumed manipulation" of information when the volume was issued Monday, on the eve of Francis' anniversary.
It said its decision to withhold part of the letter at the time was based on its desire for reserve "not because of any desire to censure."
Mauritius president quits over scandal
JOHANNESBURG -- The president of the Indian Ocean nation of Mauritius, Africa's only female head of state, has resigned over a financial scandal.
Ameenah Gurib-Fakim submitted her resignation in the "national interest," her lawyer Yousouf Mohamed told reporters Saturday, according to news reports. Her resignation is effective Friday.
It has been alleged that Gurib-Fakim made personal purchases with a credit card provided by a nongovernmental organization, whose Angolan founder has sought to do business in Mauritius and is under investigation on fraud accusations in Portugal.
Gurib-Fakim said last week that she "inadvertently" used the credit card from the London-based Planet Earth Institute for "out-of-pocket" expenses of about $27,000, and that she had refunded the money.
Gurib-Fakim, 58, whose role is mostly ceremonial, had said earlier that she was the victim of a smear campaign and said she would not resign. But by Saturday she had changed her mind.
Gurib-Fakim was appointed president in 2015 and was previously a chemistry professor and science faculty dean at the University of Mauritius.
A Section on 03/18/2018