MONTREAL, Jan 4, 2024 (AFP) – A Jewish-owned delicatessen in Toronto was set alight Wednesday in what police are investigating as a hate crime. Early on Wednesday, firefighters were alerted to a blaze inside International Delicatessen Foods, located in the north of Canada’s largest city. No one was injured, according to Toronto media reports. Graffiti reading “Free Palestine” had been painted on the doors of the establishment. Toronto Police Staff Superintendent Pauline Gray said the […]
International
Several US state capitols evacuated over bomb threats: officials
WASHINGTON, Jan 3, 2024 (AFP) – Several state capitol buildings across the United States were evacuated Wednesday over multiple bomb threats, according to officials, one of whom said a “mass email” was responsible for triggering the security response. No explosives or threatening items were found as police evacuated and swept the statehouses in Connecticut, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Montana following an apparent hoax threat, officials and local media reported. “While everyone is […]
Trump appeals to US Supreme Court over Colorado ballot ban
WASHINGTON, Jan 3, 2024 (AFP) – Former president Donald Trump urged the US Supreme Court on Wednesday to toss out a ruling by Colorado’s highest court that would keep him off the presidential primary ballot in the western state. The Colorado Supreme Court barred Trump last month from appearing on the Republican primary ballot in the state because of his role in the January 6, 2021 assault on the US Capitol by his supporters. Lawyers […]
Hundreds cut off after Japan quake that killed 78
NANAO, Japan, Jan 4, 2024 (AFP) – More than 50 people were reported missing Thursday as Japanese rescuers battled to reach hundreds still cut off from help three days after a devastating earthquake left at least 78 dead. As the frantic search for survivors continues, more than a dozen communities remained isolated by landslides and blocked roads in central Japan, where the 7.5-magnitude quake struck on Monday. The powerful main tremor, followed by hundreds of […]
China holds navy, air patrols in South China Sea
BEIJING, Jan 4, 2024 (AFP) – Chinese and US warships were in the South China Sea on Thursday, conducting rival exercises in the disputed waters amid heightened tensions involving US ally the Philippines. Beijing’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command a day before said a two-day deployment of its navy and air force, scheduled to end today, was carrying out “routine patrols” in the sea. It did not mention where exactly the patrols took […]
Felon lunges at US judge over court bench
LOS ANGELES, Jan 4, 2024 (AFP) – A convicted felon lunged at a US judge on Wednesday as she was about to sentence him to jail, in a dramatic courtroom scuffle caught on video. Footage shows Deobra Redden, 30, launching himself over the bench at Judge Mary Kay Holthus and attacking her in the Clark County court in Las Vegas. Court staff leap to the judge’s defense, pulling the convict off the judge and pummeling […]
Germany urges citizens to leave Lebanon swiftly
BERLIN, Jan 3, 2024 (AFP) – Germany on Wednesday urged its citizens to leave Lebanon quickly, warning that an expansion of the Israel-Hamas war could not be ruled out after a drone strike in Beirut killed a senior Hamas leader. “All German citizens, who are still in Lebanon, are asked to register on the ELEFAND crisis preparedness list and to leave the country as quickly as possible,” wrote the German foreign ministry on X, formerly […]
US, allies warn Huthis as ship attacks rattle global commerce
By Shaun Tandon and Danny Kemp with Gregory Walton at the United Nations WASHINGTON, Jan 3, 2024 (AFP) – Twelve nations led by the United States on Wednesday jointly warned Yemen’s Huthi rebels of unspecified consequences unless they immediately halt sea attacks that are increasingly disrupting global commerce. President Joe Biden’s administration described the statement — joined notably by Britain, Germany and Japan — as a final warning as he weighs possible military strikes against […]
Argentina court suspends Milei labor reforms
BUENOS AIRES, Jan 4, 2024 (AFP) – Argentine judges on Wednesday suspended labor law changes that form part of a mega-decree of sweeping economic reforms and deregulation announced by the country’s libertarian new president, Javier Milei. The CGT trade union body had challenged the changes, which technically took effect last Friday, on grounds that they erode basic worker protections such as the right to strike and parental leave. The three judges of Argentina’s labor appeals […]
Japan Airlines pilots ‘unaware of fire’ at first
By Hiroshi HIYAMA TOKYO, Jan 4, 2024 (AFP) – Pilots on a Japan Airlines plane engulfed in flames just after all 379 passengers and crew escaped were initially unaware the aircraft was on fire, according to fresh details reported Thursday. The airliner collided with a coast guard plane after landing at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on Tuesday evening. All but one of the six people on the smaller aircraft were killed. A ball of flame erupted […]
Black box from US Osprey found off Japan
TOKYO, Jan 4, 2024 (AFP) – The black box from an Osprey military aircraft that crashed off Japan in November with eight people on board has been recovered, the US military said Thursday, five weeks after the accident. “Critical equipment identified by investigation officials has been recovered, including the Voice and Data Recorder, often called the black box,” US Air Force Special Operations Command spokeswoman Rebecca Heyse said. “The equipment will be transported to laboratories […]
Sweden sees coldest weather in 25 years
STOCKHOLM, Jan 3, 2024 (AFP) – Sweden on Wednesday recorded its coldest January night in 25 years, with a reading of minus 43.6 degrees Celsius in the far north as a cold snap hit the Nordics. “To put that into perspective, that is the lowest January temperature in Sweden since 1999,” Mattias Lind, meteorologist at Sweden’s national weather agency SMHI, told AFP. In January 1999, a temperature of minus 49 degrees Celsius (minus 56.2 Fahrenheit) […]





