International

Horrific scenes unfold in Sri Lanka after blasts in churches and hotels that killed at least 156

  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 […]

Unidentified gunmen kill 13, including child, at Mexican party

  MINATITLÁN, Mexico (AFP) — Thirteen people, including a child, were killed Friday when a group of unidentified gunmen opened fire on a party in the violence-wracked eastern Mexican state of Veracruz, officials said. The Secretariat of Public Safety said the gunmen arrived at a family reunion in Minatitlan asking to see someone named “El Becky’ — the owner of a local bar — before opening fire. It said seven men, five women, and a […]

Assad urges progress on Idlib deal ahead of Syria talks

DAMASCUS, Syria (AFP) — Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Friday called for progress on a stalled buffer zone deal around jihadist-dominated Idlib region ahead of fresh talks aimed at ending his country’s eight-year war. Assad met envoy Alexander Lavrentiev from key ally Russia in Damascus to discuss the negotiations due April 25-26 in Kazakhstan. Iran and Russia are the major supporters of the Syrian regime, and along with rebel backer Turkey have sponsored repeated rounds […]

Blind Japanese sailor completes non-stop Pacific voyage

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A blind Japanese sailor completed his non-stop Pacific voyage on Saturday, local media reported, becoming the first sightless person on record to navigate a vessel across the vast ocean. Mitsuhiro Iwamoto arrived at port in Fukushima in his 12-meter (40-foot) sailboat on Saturday morning, around two months after he left California. Iwamoto, a 52-year-old San Diego resident, sailed from the US city on February 24 with Doug Smith, an American navigator […]

US ‘House of Horrors’ parents jailed for torture, abuse

by Javier TOVAR RIVERSIDE, United States (AFP) — A California couple were handed life sentences Friday after admitting to imprisoning and torturing 12 of their 13 children in a grisly “House of Horrors” case that shocked the world. David Allen Turpin, 57, and his wife Louise Anna Turpin, 50, had pleaded guilty to 14 felony counts — including cruelty, false imprisonment, child abuse and torture of their children aged three to 30 — and will […]

Peru’s Garcia denies corruption claims in suicide note

by Roberto CORTIJO LIMA, Peru (AFP) — A suicide note in which Peru’s Alan Garcia denied corruption charges against him set the backdrop Friday for the ex-president’s funeral, two days after he put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger as police arrived to arrest him on bribery charges linked to the Odebrecht graft scandal. The sweeping affair, which has tainted politicians across Latin America, swept up another Peruvian ex-president when a judge […]

China invites North Korea to Belt and Road summit

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China said Friday leaders from 37 nations and North Korean representatives will attend a summit for its Belt and Road Initiative next week as it hit back at criticism of the massive trade infrastructure project. Chinese President Xi Jinping’s pet project is a $1 trillion programme that includes maritime, rail and road projects in Asia, Africa and Europe. The Belt and Road Initiative has divided Europe, and Washington has called it […]

US says North Korean test not a ballistic missile

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A weapons test announced by North Korea was not of a ballistic missile, the US defense chief said Thursday, adding that US forces have not changed their posture in response. “There was a test,” Patrick Shanahan, the acting defense secretary, told reporters as he met his Albanian counterpart at the Pentagon. He declined to elaborate on the findings of US intelligence but said, “It’s not a ballistic missile.” “Also […]

Trump declares ‘Game Over,’ after publication of Mueller report, but Democrats vow more investigations

  WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A triumphant President Donald Trump on Thursday proclaimed “Game Over” for his critics following the long awaited publication of the Mueller report, which cleared him of colluding with Russia. Not so fast, replied prominent Democrats — as they vowed to continue investigating the Republican president over what they said was “dishonest” and “immoral” conduct revealed by the two-year-long Russia probe. “FOR THE HATERS AND RADICAL LEFT DEMOCRATS — GAME […]

Mueller report shows ‘no reasonable proof’ of Russian meddling: Kremlin

  MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Friday once more dismissed the Mueller report, saying it failed to present clear evidence of any meddling by Moscow in the 2016 US election and called its impact on relations regrettable. “As a whole the report as before does not present any reasonable proof at all that Russia allegedly meddled in the electoral process in the US,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists, saying it contained “no new […]

Updated: 13 killed, at least 16 injured as church roof collapses in South Africa

  JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — Thirteen people were killed and 16 injured when part of a church collapsed on worshippers following a violent storm near the eastern South African city of Durban, officials said Friday. The accident happened late Thursday when a brick wall under a makeshift roof collapsed during a service at a Pentecostal church, a converted hangar, in the town of Ndlangubo, north of Durban, in KwaZulu-Natal province. “Such a tragedy. 13 […]

Bangladesh girl burned to death on teacher’s order after she reported sexual assault, says police

  DHAKA, Bangladesh (AFP) — A schoolgirl was burned to death in Bangladesh on the orders of her head teacher after she reported him for sexually harassing her, police said Friday. The death of 19-year-old Nusrat Jahan Rafi last week sparked protests across the South Asian nation, with the prime minister promising to prosecute all those involved. Rafi was lured to the rooftop of the Islamic seminary she attended where her attackers asked her to […]