By Jay Rosquites EBC Florida Bureau TAMPA, Florida (Eagle News) – Just a day after the stunning comeback to beat the UConn Huskies, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish are making their final preparations for their second consecutive national championship appearance on Sunday. Though most of the team members have hoisted the national trophy in last year’s win, one player in particular still has yet to taste the victory of a champion. Briana Turner, who has […]
International
Venezuela’s Guaido calls demo to maintain pressure on Maduro
by Alexander MARTINEZ CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaido urged his supporters to demonstrate in the streets Saturday to maintain pressure on his rival President Nicolas Maduro, amid rising anger over the collapse of public services. Thousands of opposition supporters are expected to march through the capital Caracas from 11:00 am on Saturday as Venezuela’s power struggle is exacerbated by massive blackouts and the collapse of water supplies. Guaido, recognized as interim […]
Iran floods death toll reaches 70
TEHRAN, Iran (AFP) — Floods in Iran since March have killed 70 people the head of the emergency services said on Friday according to the official IRNA News Agency. “The floods also injured 791 persons of which 45 are still hospitalized,” Pirhossein Koolivand, the head of the national Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Organisation said. A report published on the EMS website showed the southern Fars Province had the highest fatalities with 23 dead. The report […]
World powers demand halt to Libya advance
by Imed Lamloum TRIPOLI, Libya (AFP) — Libyan forces under Khalifa Haftar battled their way to the south of Tripoli on Friday, prompting the UN Security Council and the G7 to demand a halt to the military advance on the capital. Haftar, commander of the self-proclaimed Libyan National Army (LNA), launched an offensive on Thursday to take the capital, held by a UN-backed unity government and an array of militias. The lightening assault was ordered […]
Boeing cuts 737 production rate by 10 planes per month
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Boeing announced Friday it would cut the production schedule of its 737 aircraft line following the two recent crashes that have seen the 737 MAX grounded worldwide. The aerospace giant plans to trim production to 42 planes per month, down from 52 per month, starting in mid-April. Boeing shares tumbled after the disclosure, which was released just after the closing bell on Wall Street. Boeing also announced it was […]
People skills at heart of DR Congo’s long fight against Ebola
by Samir TOUNSI Agence France-Presse BUTEMBO, DR Congo (AFP) – Evelyne was one of the first victims of the Ebola epidemic which broke out in eastern DR Congo last August, the second deadliest in its known history. Against the odds, the nurse not only survived the hemorrhagic virus, whose outbreak has claimed nearly 700 lives, but has also returned to the fray. After receiving a vaccination, Evelyne is now tending Ebola-affected children — part of a […]
Once dominant, Israel’s Labour party struggles ahead of elections
by Jonah Mandel Agence France-Presse MOTZA ILLIT, Israel (AFP) – Eyal Vardi has voted for Israel’s Labour party for most of his adult life, but the 60-year-old wants to support a winner in April 9 elections. Attending a recent open house for a candidate for another party in an affluent community west of Jerusalem, Vardi points out that Labour has all but abandoned its left-wing roots anyway. He’ll vote for the centrist Blue and White party […]
The three women hoping to upset India’s Modi at the polls
by Abhaya SRIVASTAVA Agence France-Presse NEW DELHI, India (AFP) – India’s alpha-male Prime Minister Narendra Modi faces three formidable women looking to spoil his chances of winning a new term in elections beginning next week. AFP profiles them here: ‘Big sis’ Feisty and fiery Mamata Banerjee is the first female chief minister of the eastern state of West Bengal — home to more people than Germany — where Modi’s right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) needs to […]
Morocco upholds sentences against Hirak protesters
CASABLANCA, Morocco (AFP) – Dozens of activists linked to the Hirak protest movement that rocked northern Morocco in 2016 and 2017 had prison sentences of up to 20 years upheld by a court of appeal on Friday. The ruling against the 42 protesters in the western city of Casablanca was met with cries of “corrupt state” from relatives. The Al-Hirak al-Shaabi, or “Popular Movement”, protests took hold in the country’s marginalized Rif region in October 2016. […]
US revokes ICC prosecutor’s visa over Afghan probe
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — The United States has revoked the visa for the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, her office said Friday, over a possible investigation of American soldiers’ actions in Afghanistan. Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda would continue to pursue her duties for the Hague-based court “without fear or favour” despite the ban, her office said in a statement. The move against Bensouda, a Gambian national, comes weeks after US Secretary of […]
Judge orders psychiatric test for Christchurch shooting suspect
by Chris Foley Agence France Presse CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AFP) — The man accused of shooting dead 50 Muslim worshippers in a Christchurch mosque sat impassively Friday as a New Zealand judge ordered him to undergo tests to determine if he is mentally fit to stand trial for murder. Survivors and relatives of those killed in the March 15 attacks packed into a Christchurch courtroom as alleged gunman Brenton Tarrant appeared via audio-visual link […]
One dead in South Korea blaze: Yonhap
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — An enormous fire erupted Thursday in the South Korean border town of Goseong, leaving at least one dead, destroying dozens of homes and forcing more than 3,000 people to evacuate, the Yonhap news agency reported. Strong winds fanned the flames in the town, located in mountainous northeastern Gangwon province near the frontier with North Korea, the report said, citing fire officials. The National Fire Agency mobilised about 2,700 emergency personnel, […]