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by Poornima Weerasekara in Colombo and Peter Hutchison in Negombo COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Sri Lanka on Tuesday imposed a state of emergency hours after the government blamed a local Islamist group for a series of suicide bomb blasts that killed at least 290 people, including dozens of foreigners. Twenty-four people have been arrested over the Easter Sunday assault on three churches and three hotels in the capital Colombo and elsewhere, authorities said. The […]
by Oleksandr SAVOCHENKO Agence France Presse KIEV, Ukraine (AFP) — Ukraine’s election has catapulted Volodymyr Zelensky, a 41-year-old standup comedian and television star with no political experience, into the nation’s top job. As leader of a country dependent on international aid and battling separatists, Zelensky will have to deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, deep economic problems and possibly rebellious elites. Here is a look at the main challenges facing Ukraine’s sixth president: – War […]
by Sebastien BERGER in Pyongyang / Claire LEE in Seoul Agence France Presse PYONGYANG, North Korea (AFP) — On the neighbouring mound to Mansu hill, where giant statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il look out over North Korea’s capital, stands the Liberation Tower. The star-topped stone obelisk has a bronze Soviet Union flag at its base and and a panel showing Soviet and Korean troops going into battle together against the […]
by Ishara Kodikara in Colombo and Lakruwan Wanniarachchi in Batticaloa At least 290 are now known to have died in a series of bomb blasts that tore through churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka, in the worst violence to hit the island since its devastating civil war ended a decade ago. Eight apparently co-ordinated explosions targeted Easter worshippers and high end hotels popular with international guests. The horrific death toll, which has risen dramatically […]
by Dmytro Gorshkov and Anna Smolchenko A comedian with no political experience won a landslide victory in Ukraine’s presidential election on Sunday, drawing congratulations from global leaders while dealing a stunning rebuke to his country’s political establishment. Volodymyr Zelensky, whose only previous political role was playing the president in a TV show, trounced incumbent Petro Poroshenko by taking 73 percent of the vote, according to partial official results. Poroshenko garnered just 24 percent, losing to […]
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — Eight people have been arrested in connection with a string of deadly blasts that killed more than 200 people in Sri Lanka on Sunday, the country’s prime minister said. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said “so far the names that have come up are local,” but that investigators would look into whether the attackers had any “overseas links”. He also acknowledged that “information was there” about possible attacks. “While this goes […]
by Imed Lamloum TRIPOLI, Libya (AFP) — Forces backing Libya’s unity government battled to push back an offensive by strongman Khalifa Haftar on Sunday as his troops approached the gates of Tripoli after air raids overnight. Haftar’s self-proclaimed Libyan National Army, galvanized by victories in its eastern stronghold and in the country’s desert south, announced an offensive early this month to seize the capital from the UN-recognised administration of Fayez al-Sarraj. But his forces have […]
by Menna Zaki and Abdelmoneim Abu Idris Ali KHARTOUM, Sudan (AFP) — Sudanese protest leaders Sunday suspended talks with military rulers, after the army failed to meet their demand for an immediate transfer to civilian rule. The protest leaders had planned to name members of a civilian body to take over from the ruling military council which took power on April 11 after ousting veteran leader Omar al-Bashir. The momentum had been building all day […]
BOGOTA, Colombia (AFP) — At least 14 people were killed and five others injured by a mudslide that buried eight houses early Sunday in southwestern Colombia, authorities said. A search was underway for any others who might be trapped under rubble. The injured were being treated at hospitals near the scene of the disaster in Rosas, in the department of Cauca, the national risk management agency said. The agency attributed the mudslide to the heavy […]
by Ishara Kodikara in Colombo and Lakruwan Wanniarachchi in Batticaloa Agence France Presse COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — A series of eight devastating bomb blasts ripped through high-end hotels and churches holding Easter services in Sri Lanka on Sunday, killing nearly 160 people, including dozens of foreigners. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe condemned the attacks — the worst act of violence since the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war a decade ago — as “cowardly”, […]
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AFP) — World leaders have condemned a series of blasts in Sri Lanka that killed more than 150 people on Sunday, including dozens of foreigners — with British, Dutch and American citizens believed to be among them. Hospital sources also said Japanese citizens were among those injured by the bombs which ripped through high-end hotels and churches holding Easter services. Here is a summary of the reactions: – Britain: ‘Stand together’ […]
Horrific scenes unfolded in Sri Lanka after deadly blasts that ripped through high-end hotels and churches holding Easter services in Sri Lanka on Sunday, killing at least 156 people, including 35 foreigners. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe condemned the attacks as “cowardly” and said the government was working to “contain the situation”. The Catholic Church in Jerusalem issued a statement condemning the blasts. “We pray for the souls of the victims and ask for speedy […]
