World

WELLINGTON — Tropical Cyclone Sarai barrelled off the coast of Fiji on Saturday, forcing hundreds of residents to move to higher ground ahead of possible flooding.

The Category Two storm passed off the southwest of the main island of Viti Levu with forecast average winds of 95 kilometres per hour (kph) and gusts of 130kph at the centre of the storm.

The Fiji Meteorological Service warned of “damaging gale force winds” and heavy rain with coastal flooding expected in some areas as the cyclone intensified on Friday.

Around 360 people went to 15 evacuation centres across the country, the National Disaster Management Office said, as flash flood warnings were put in place.

“As we speak, more evacuation centres are expected to be activated as people living in low lying and coastal areas have already started experiencing damaging winds and heavy rain,” said agency director Vasiti Soko.

Meanwhile, the plans of thousands of tourists who flock to the south Pacific island nation over the Christmas-New Year holiday period were upended as flights were cancelled or delayed.

Many day cruises around the islands have been called off while Fiji Airways has cancelled several inter-island flights, and flights to Australia and New Zealand.

Flights to the United States have been brought forward several hours to avoid the advancing cyclone.

In February 2016, 44 people were killed when Cyclone Winston destroyed tens of thousands of homes and caused an estimated $1 billion in damage when it hit Fiji.

HONG KONG — Hong Kong riot police arrested at least 15 people in clashes on Saturday with dozens of pro-democracy protestors who targeted a mall near the border with China to demonstrate against mainland tourists and shoppers.

The fresh unrest ended a brief calm after protestors had battled riot police in shopping malls and streets of commercial districts across the city for three days over the Christmas period.

On Saturday afternoon, masked plain-clothed officers wielding batons arrested 14 people, including a 14-year-old girl, who were protesting inside the mall in Sheung Shui district, forcing shops to shut and harassing shoppers, an AFP reporter at the scene said.

Riot police charged into the mall to reinforce the officers and used pepper spray to disperse a crowd of residents who gathered to protest against the arrests.

After the police left, some protesters stayed on a footbridge linking the mall to an MTR metro station and harassed passers-by they thought were mainland Chinese tourists.

Another man was arrested by riot police in a later incident inside the mall, his head covered in blood.

Similar protests and clashes also took place in a mall in Kowloon Bay district, where a number of people were arrested.

Blood and a black mask were seen by an AFP reporter on the floor where plain-clothed police subdued protesters in the mall.

In recent years, Sheung Shui has been swamped by a huge influx of mainlanders and parallel traders seeking to circumvent Chinese taxes, angering many residents who have seen their local shops transformed to cater to the visitors.

Hong Kong’s many malls have become regular protest venues as protesters try to cause economic disruption in their push for greater democratic freedoms and police accountability.

The last month had seen a relative drop-off in violence and protests after pro-democracy candidates won a landslide at local elections.

But with Beijing and city leaders refusing further concessions, rallies and clashes reignited over the Christmas period.

MANILA — The Philippines banned two US senators and threatened to introduce visa restrictions for Americans entering the country, the president’s spokesman said on Friday, if Washington pushes ahead with sanctions against Filipino officials involved in jailing a leading opposition leader.

Senators Richard Durbin and Patrick Leahy were banned from entering the country after introducing a provision in the 2020 US budget that would prevent officials involved in the incarceration of Senator Leila de Lima from entering the US, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said.

De Lima, one of the highest-profile critics of Duterte’s controversial war on drugs, has been imprisoned since February 2017 over a drug charge — but has claimed innocence, and accused him of persecuting political opponents.

“If they will enforce this provision in the US budget, then we will be compelled to require all Americans entering into this country to secure a visa before they can be allowed entry,” Panelo said on Friday.

American tourists — who can enter visa-free for up to 30 days — account for more than a tenth of arrivals, according to the Philippines tourism department.

The senators’ provision allows the US to deny entry to Philippine officials if the state department finds “credible information” on those involved in the “wrongful imprisonment” of De Lima.

“We will not sit idly if they continue to interfere with our processes as a sovereign nation,” Panelo said.

De Lima, in a written statement from jail, thanked the senators for the provision, saying “impunity cannot last”.

A former human rights commissioner, she has said her imprisonment was an act of revenge for her decade-long effort to expose the president’s alleged death squads during his time as mayor of the southern city of Davao.

The US is a long-time Philippine ally as well as its largest defence partner and — following nearly half a century of rule — many Filipinos have relatives who migrated to the US who are American citizens.

Duerte’s deadly war on drugs — backed by many Filipinos but condemned by critics who say it is a war crime — has claimed at least 5,500 lives, however, watchdogs say the actual toll is at least four times higher.

International Criminal Court prosecutors have launched a preliminary probe of the killing, and the UN’s top rights body voted in favour of an in-depth review.

The US embassy did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.

OUAGADOUGOU —  A militant attack that left 42 dead in the north of Burkina Faso, the worst assault in the country for five years, plunged the country into mourning over Christmas and sparked messages of solidarity from the United Nations and Pope Francis.

Thirty-five civilians, including 31 women, and seven soldiers were killed on Tuesday in a morning raid which lasted for several hours and targeted both civilians and a military base in the northern town of Arbinda, the army said, adding that 80 assailants were killed.

Around a dozen soldiers also died in a separate night-time ambush 60 kilometres away in Hallele, in the same volatile northern province of Soum, security sources said on Wednesday.

Burkina Faso, bordering Mali and Niger, has seen frequent attacks by extremist militants which have left hundreds of people dead since the start of 2015 when extremist violence began to spread across the Sahel region.

"A large group of terrorists simultaneously attacked the military base and the civilian population in Arbinda," the army chief of staff said.

"While the [military] group was under heavy fire, another group of armed individuals attacked the civilian population, mainly women including displaced people who had taken refuge in Arbinda," a security source told AFP.

President Roch Marc Christian Kabore confirmed that 35 civilians were killed in the "barbaric attack" in Arbinda and declared 48 hours of national mourning over Wednesday and Thursday.

Government spokesman Remis Dandjinou said 31 of the civilian victims were women.

Pope's prayers 

There was worldwide condemnation of the attack, as well as expressions of support for Burkina Faso.

The UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned the Christmas Eve attack and offered his "deep condolences" to the families of the victims, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. 

"The secretary general conveys the solidarity of the United Nations to the government and people of Burkina Faso," he added, emphasising the UN's continued support for the Sahel region in their efforts to fight terrorism and violent extremism.

In his traditional Christmas message, Pope Francis denounced attacks on Christians in Africa and prayed for victims of conflict, natural disasters and disease on the world's poorest continent.

The pontiff urged "comfort to those who are persecuted for their religious faith, especially missionaries and members of the faithful who have been kidnapped, and to the victims of attacks by extremist groups, particularly in Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger and Nigeria".

In Brussels, the head of the European Council Charles Michel tweeted: "Inates in Niger yesterday, Arbinda in Burkina Faso today... Martyr towns, victims of a rampant terrorism that threatens us all. The European Union stands by Africa in its battle against terrorism." 

Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou also expressed his "solidarity" and, speaking "in the name of the Nigerien people" offered his "condolences for all civilian and military victims".

The morning raid in Burkina was carried out by more than 200 militants on motorbikes, triggering a fierce firefight that lasted about three hours before armed forces backed by the air force drove the militants back, a security source said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the bloodshed, but violence in Burkina Faso has been blamed on militants linked to both Al Qaeda and Daesh groups.

560,000 internally displaced 

Leaders of the G5 Sahel countries held summit talks in Niger earlier this month, calling for closer cooperation and international support in the battle against the threat of extremist militants.

France is also hosting another meeting next month.

Militant violence has spread across the vast Sahel region, especially in Burkina Faso and Niger, having started when armed extremists revolted in northern Mali in 2012.

There are 4,500 French troops deployed in the region as well as a 13,000-strong UN peacekeeping force in Mali to fight insurgents, backing up national forces of the G5 — Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali, Mauritania and Niger.

In Burkina Faso, more than 700 people have been killed and around 560,000 internally displaced, according to the United Nations.

Attacks have targeted mostly the north and east of the country, though the capital Ouagadougou has been hit three times.

Prior to Tuesday's attack, Burkina security forces said they had killed around 100 militants in several operations since November.

An ambush on a convoy transporting employees of a Canadian mining company in November killed 37 people.

Attacks have intensified this year as the under-equipped, poorly trained Burkina Faso army struggles to contain the extremist militancy.

NEW DELHI — Indians took to the streets again on Thursday in yet more protests against a citizenship law, a day after pro-government Hindu hardliners staged a show of force complete with horses, drums and batons.

The violent demonstrations have killed at least 27 people as anti-government protesters have vented their anger nationwide in the biggest challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he stormed to power in 2014.

Modi denies accusations that the law, which eases naturalisation procedures for non-Muslim minorities from three nations, is part of a master plan to reshape India as a purely Hindu nation.

But coupled with plans for a national register of citizens, it has stoked fears at home and abroad, including in Washington and at the UN rights office, about the marginalisation of India's 200 million Muslims.

On Wednesday several thousand baton-wielding volunteers from a Hindu hardline group — of which Modi is a lifelong member — held a rally in the southern city of Hyderabad, in a show of support for the government.

Members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a militaristic group that has long espoused "Hindutva" or Hindu hegemony, marched through the streets beating drums and blowing horns.

The parade, organised before the protests began, saw volunteers ride horses, sing songs, and perform group exercises using lathis — bamboo batons deployed by Indian riot police.

The protests against the citizenship law meanwhile show no signs of going away, although in recent days numbers have been smaller.

Around 2,500 people rallied against the government in the financial capital Mumbai on Thursday, police told AFP, with demonstrators waving flags and carrying banners calling for a boycott of the citizenship law.

Protesters also took to the streets in the eastern city of Kolkata while hundreds of Muslim women demonstrated in the southern state of Karnataka where two people were shot dead by police in protests last week.

While many of the protests have been peaceful, demonstrations have sometimes turned violent with police also accused of a disproportionate response.

In India's most populous state Uttar Pradesh — where 19 people have been killed — the authorities have arrested thousands and sought damages from more than 100 people accused of rioting and destroying public property.

Around 130 people have been ordered to pay nearly 5 million rupees ($70,000) within a week, with officials warning that their properties will be confiscated and auctioned to recover the amount if necessary.

Authorities were bracing for further protests on Friday in Uttar Pradesh, home to a large Islamic minority, and in parts of New Delhi following Muslim prayers.

Mobile Internet, which was cut across large parts of Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere last week, has been restored, although the cities of Agra — home to the Taj Mahal — and Bulandshahr remain offline.

PARIS — The year 2019 saw an explosion of demonstrations across the world as people demanded an overhaul of entrenched political systems and action on climate change.

Here is a look back at these and other events that marked the year.

Protests sweep Latin America 

On January 23, Venezuela's opposition chief Juan Guaido declares himself interim president, escalating a long-running political and economic crisis.

He is recognised by more than 50 countries, including the United States. But the army backs President Nicolas Maduro and he remains in his post.

In mid-September major demonstrations erupt in Haiti after fuel shortages, demanding the resignation of President Jovenel Moise. Violence claims more than 40 lives.

A metro ticket hike in Chile's capital mid-October is the trigger for protests that claim more than 20 lives before a referendum on reforms is agreed.

Bolivia is gripped by three weeks of demonstrations after President Evo Morales claims to win a fourth term on October 20. Dozens are killed. Morales resigns on November 10 and flees into exile as the government works on new elections.

Ecuador is paralysed by nearly two weeks of protests in October and in Colombia strikes and demonstrations against the right-wing government begin mid-November.

North Africa/Mideast fury 

On February 22, unprecedented protests break out in Algeria against a fifth term for frail President Abdelaziz Bouteflika, in power for 20 years.

He loses the army's backing and resigns on April 2. But demonstrations continue, demanding an overhaul of the entire political establishment and rejecting new president Abdelmadjid Tebboune, elected on December 12 in polls marked by record abstention.

In Sudan, the military on April 11 ends Omar al-Bashir's three decades in power, a key demand in four months of nationwide protests.

Demonstrations continue until a hard-won agreement in August sets up a joint governing council to oversee a transition to civilian rule. More than 250 people are killed, according to protesters.

In Iraq, mass demonstrations erupt on October 1 against unemployment, corruption and poor public services, degenerating into violence that claims more than 460 lives.

On December 1, parliament accepts the government's resignation.

In Lebanon, rolling mass protests start on October 17, triggered by plans for a messaging app tax and turning against the political elite. They continue even after Prime Minister Saad Hariri resigns on October 29, with protesters rejecting new premier-designate Hassan Diab, an engineering professor backed by Hizbollah chosen on December 19 to form a government.

Iran sees an explosion of riots on November 15 after a fuel price hike. Authorities crush the unrest but Amnesty International says more than 304 people were killed, most shot by security forces, a toll denied by the authorities.

 Daesh leader killed 

After a five-year offensive to seize vast Daesh territory in Iraq and Syria, the terrorists were driven out of their last bastion in March by Kurdish-led forces.

On October 27, President Donald Trump announces that Daesh leader Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi was killed in a US special forces raid in Syria, blowing himself up as he was pursued.

Boeing MAX grounded 

A March 10 Ethiopian Airlines crash leads to the global grounding of Boeing 737 MAX planes. It follows a Lion Air crash involving the same model six months earlier, with 346 lives lost in the two incidents.

Boeing faces investigations and lawsuits, and is forced to upgrade its systems, in a crisis that costs it billions of dollars.

In mid-December production of the plane is suspended. On December 23, Boeing chief Dennis Muilenburg resigns.

Brexit saga 

Britain's March 29, 2019, deadline for leaving the European Union following a 2016 referendum is postponed three times, with the British parliament unable to agree to the divorce terms negotiated by Prime Minister Theresa May with Brussels, nor a second accord negotiated by her successor Boris Johnson.

After widely winning early elections on December 12, Johnson gets support at the first reading by the lower house for his accord. He seeks final adoption on January 9, and to leave the EU on January 31, 2020

First black hole photo 

On April 10, astronomers unveil the first photograph of a black hole, a phenomenon they were convinced existed even if it had never been seen before.

Drawn from mountains of data captured two years earlier by telescopes across the world, it shows a supermassive black hole 50 million lightyears away.

Notre Dame burns 

On April 15, flames destroy the spire and roof of Paris's beloved Notre-Dame cathedral, but firefighters manage to save the gothic building, while many of its arts, relics and other treasures are rescued.

Amid a global outpouring of emotion, nearly one billion euros ($1.1 billion) is pledged for its reconstruction, which will take years. For the first time since 1803, Notre-Dame does not celebrate Christmas mass.

Iran escalation 

On May 8, Tehran announces its first step back from the 2015 nuclear accord — exactly a year after the United States quit the deal and reimposed sanctions.

Over the next months Iran reengages components of its nuclear programme that it had halted, including uranium enrichment.

Tensions mount when Washington blames Tehran for a series of attacks on oil tankers in the Gulf from mid-May.

On September 14, Iran is again blamed when major Saudi oil facilities are attacked by Yemen's Houthi rebels, which it supports. It denies involvement.

In six months Tehran has surpassed the stock of enriched uranium, the level of enrichment and heavy water reserves fixed by the accord and modernised its centrifuges.

Hong Kong erupts 

June 9 sees the start of the biggest crisis in the former British colony of Hong Kong since it returned to Chinese rule in 1997, with almost-daily pro-democracy protests.

Demonstrations are initially sparked by a now-abandoned attempt to allow extraditions to the Chinese mainland but develop into a popular revolt against Beijing's rule.

On November 24, pro-democracy campaigners win a landslide victory in local elections.

Hottest month ever 

July temperatures were the hottest ever recorded, US and European Union authorities announce in August.

Temperature records rise in Europe and the North Pole, and in August, Iceland loses its first glacier to climate change.

Fires ravage Brazil's Amazon and Australia, while Venice is swamped by flooding not seen in decades.

The extreme weather raises climate concerns, and rallies for action, initiated by Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg, spread worldwide.

US disengagement 

On August 2, the US officially quits the Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty (INF) with Russia.

Trump's "America First" regime also strikes out alone by pursuing trade wars with China and the EU. It also withdraw from the Paris accord on climate change and its troops from northeastern Syria.

Trump impeachment bid 

On September 24, the Democrats in Congress launch an impeachment enquiry into Trump after claims he pressured Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden, a rival in his 2020 reelection bid.

Trump is impeached in a historic rebuke by the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives on two counts of abuse of office and obstruction of Congress, but conviction is unlikely to pass the Republican-controlled Senate in a trial expected to begin in January

Turkey moves into Syria 

On October 9, Turkey launches an offensive into northern Syria to push back from the border Kurdish fighters it considers "terrorists".

Two days earlier Trump had announced the withdrawal of US troops in the area, leading to charges that Washington had abandoned Kurdish allies who were vital in the battle against Daesh terrorists.

Turkey halts its operation on October 23 after the US and Russia agree in separate deals to ensure the fighters leave the border region.

Big Tech tackled 

On July 24, US regulators fine Facebook a record $5 billion for data protection violations amid mounting concerns about the dominance of it and other Internet giants Apple, Amazon and Google.

Criticised for failing to protect consumers as well as over tax and advertising issues, the tech titans come under pressure to reform, with threats of investigation, fines and even dismantlement.

 Social crisis in France 

France is confronted from December 5 by a three-week standoff between French transport workers and the government over pension reforms, which causes havoc to Christmas travel.

Workers at the national SNCF and Parisian RATP rail and public transport companies walk off the job to protest at the government's plan to meld France's 42 pension schemes into a single points-based one, which would see some public employees lose certain privileges, including early retirement.

ROME — Italian Education Minister Lorenzo Fioramonti said on Thursday that he had resigned, dealing a sharp blow to the country’s embattled four-month-old coalition government.

Fioramonti, of the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S), wrote on Facebook that he was stepping down because his demand for a minimum level of funding had not been met.

He said he had informed Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte of his decision on Tuesday.

Fioramonti had agreed to take on the portfolio to “reverse... the trend that has for decades put Italian schools, higher education and research in conditions of great suffering”, he said.

He said the government had failed “to ensure a financial waterline... especially in such a crucial area as universities and research”.

The resignation is a new blow to the coalition government formed by Fioramonti’s M5S Party and the centre-left Democratic Party just four months ago.

Dissensions have already arisen in several areas including migration.

M5S leader Luigi Di Maio, who is foreign minister, has come under harsh criticism within the party, with several lawmakers leaving to join the far-right, anti-immigrant League Party led by Matteo Salvini.

Media reports say Fioramonti plans to form an independent group in parliament to support Conte that could be the embryo of a new political party.

Fioramonti, a former economy professor at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, had set a minimum 2020 budget of three billion euros ($3.3 billion), but was accorded two billion in the budget approved on Monday.

“It seems resources can never be found when it comes to schools and research, and yet hundreds of millions of euros are available within a few hours for other objectives when there is the political will,” he said.

His resignation will likely raise tensions within Italy’s fractured coalition government as it faces a challenge by former prime minister Matteo Renzi and his new centrist party, Italia Viva.

Meanwhile, Salvini is calling for new elections even though the League has declined in opinion polls since he broke up Italy’s previous coalition government in August.

PARIS — Schoolchildren skipping class to strike, protests bringing city centres to a standstill: Armed with dire warnings from scientists, people around the world dragged the climate emergency into the mainstream in 2019.

Spurred on by Swedish wunderkind Greta Thunberg — virtually unknown outside of her homeland a year ago but now a global star nominated for a Nobel prize — millions of young people took part in weekly demonstrations demanding climate action.

And, like harbingers of the apocalypse, the Extinction Rebellion movement embarked on a campaign of peaceful civil disobedience that spread worldwide, armed with little more than superglue and the nihilistic motto: “When hope dies, action begins.”

Although scientists have warned for decades about the risk to humanity and Earth posed by unfettered burning of fossil fuels, in 2019 — set to be the second hottest year in history — their message seems to have finally hit home.

The 2015 Paris agreement saw nations commit to limiting global warming to 2ºC above pre-industrial levels as a way of curbing the worst impacts of global warming.

A safer cap of 1.5ºC was included as a goal for nations to work towards.

With Earth having already warmed by 1ºC, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) dropped a bombshell late last year.

Its landmark report in October 2018 laid the groundwork for the string of climate shockwaves that rumbled throughout 2019: The world is way off course for 1.5ºC, and the difference between 1.5ºC and 2ºC could be catastrophic.

“The message from scientists was that each half-degree counts,” said Amy Dahan, a science historian specialising in climate at France’s National Centre for Scientific Research.

It was a message heard around the world.

For Corinne Le Quere, president of France’s High Commission for Climate Change and member of Britain’s Committee on Climate Change, 2019 was “something new”.

“I’ve worked on climate change for 30 years and for 29 of those, as scientists, we’ve worked unnoticed,” she told AFP.

The IPCC report concluded that global CO2 emissions must drop 45 percent by 2030 — and reach “net zero” by 2050 — to cap temperature rise at 1.5ºC.

“It’s given us a clear timeline: we have 12 years to act,” said Caroline Merner, 24, a Canadian member of the Youth4Climate movement.

The UN last month said carbon emissions must decline 7.6 per cent annually by 2030 to stand any chance of hitting 1.5ºC.

Scientists meanwhile said emissions this year will instead rise 0.6 per cent.

Despite growing mobilisation and awareness, COP25 — the climate summit in Madrid this month — barely squeezed out compromises from countries over a global warming battle plan that fell well short of what science says is needed to tackle the climate crisis.

Annus horribilis

But while society and particularly younger generations appear to have woken up to the threat of climate catastrophe, industry shows little signs of sharing their urgency.

Greenhouse gas emissions are once again set to rise in 2019 after hitting a record in 2018, as extreme weather events — made more likely as the planet warms — struck seemingly everywhere this year.

Cyclone Idai in Mozambique, typhoon Hagibis in Japan, a deadly, record-breaking heatwave across much of Europe, wildfires in California and eastern Australia, floods in Venice... the list goes on.

The threat posed by climate change became so stark in 2019 that Indonesia, one of the fastest-growing economies on Earth, decided to move its capital to somewhere that wasn’t sinking.

“We’re seeing climate change with our own eyes,” Le Quere said. “Reality is forcing us to act.”

The science came thick and fast this year, with the IPCC releasing two additional special reports on land use and oceans, and another UN body, IPBES, issuing a stunning warning of the threats posed by human activity to the natural world.

Faced with an unbreachable body of evidence and mounting pressure from the streets, governments in 2019 started, slowly, to mobilise.

A total of 66 nations now have plans to be carbon-neutral by 2050. The cities of London and Paris declared official ecological and climate emergencies.

Yet there are fears meagre progress could be undermined as developing economies appear no closer to ditching fossil fuels and the United States — the largest historic emitter — looks poised to complete its Paris pullout.

‘Climate makes us equal’

Environmental activism, of course, is nothing new.

As Alfredo Jornet, professor at the University of Oslo, pointed out, indigenous peoples “have been very active for a long time” in protesting against climate change and de-forestation, often to little fanfare.

“It’s easy to be worried about the climate when you have money and privilege,” said Melina Sakiyama, 34, a Brazilian activist.

With the deadline for countries’ Paris commitments looming, as well as a series of high-profile environment summits in 2020, this year is unlikely to be a one-off in terms of climate action.

“The question is how to mobilise this unrest in a way that can lead us to better, more peaceful, democratic and sustainable societies,” said Jornet.

“In a sense, climate change makes us all more equal. It makes us more capable of acting together.”

BEIJING — China, Russia and Iran will hold joint naval drills starting on Friday in the Gulf of Oman, Beijing said, at a time of heightened tensions since the US withdrew from a landmark nuclear deal with Tehran.

Set to take place from December 27 to 30, the military exercises aim to "deepen exchange and cooperation between the navies of the three countries", Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Wu Qian told reporters on Thursday.

Wu said the Chinese navy would deploy its Xining guided missile destroyer — nicknamed the "carrier killer" for its array of anti-ship and land attack cruise missiles — in the drills.

But he did not give details on how many personnel or ships would take part overall.

The US reimposed sanctions on Iran in May last year after withdrawing from the international deal aimed at tackling the Islamic Republic's nuclear programme, prompting Tehran to hit back with countermeasures.

Remaining parties to the badly weakened 2015 deal include China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany.

China's foreign minister said the exercises were part of "normal military cooperation" between the three countries.

In June, US President Donald Trump authorised a military strike after Iran shot down a US drone, only to call off the retaliation at the last moment.

BANGUI, Central African Republic — At least 11 people were killed in fighting between militiamen and traders in a restive district of Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic (CAR), two security officials and an imam said on Thursday.

Between 11 and 14 people died after clashes erupted on Wednesday, the security sources said, while the imam, Awad Al Karim, said "16 bodies" had been brought to the local Ali Babolo Mosque.

The fighting began after traders in a mainly Muslim district called PK5 took up arms to oppose taxes levied by militia groups, the imam said. 

Bursts of automatic fire and explosions were heard on Wednesday evening and on Thursday morning, according to an AFP journalist who was in a neighbouring district.

Bili Aminou Alao, spokesman for the UN peacekeeping force MINUSCA, said the fighting was continuing.

"We have sent a rapid response force to the area. Part of the market and some vehicles have been burned," he said.

"Between 40 and 50 shops have been burned down, as well as four or five houses," said Patrick Bidilou Niabode, head of the CAR's civil protection service.

Voluntary firefighters put out two fires which had been spreading in the market but were unable to tackle a blaze at two houses because of heavy gunfire, he added.

The CAR is one of the world's poorest and most volatile countries.

It has been gripped by sporadic violence since 2014, after its then-president, Francois Bozize, was ousted in a coup.

Fierce fighting erupted between militia groups, prompting the intervention of former colonial power France, under a UN mandate.

Attempts to broker a lasting peace have repeatedly broken down and most the country lies in the hands of armed groups.

PK5 is a powderkeg district. It became a haven for many Bangui Muslims at the peak of the clashes.