International

Genoa bridge collapse a disaster ‘waiting to happen’

ROME, Italy (AFP)–Genoa’s Morandi motorway bridge, a 200-metre (650-foot) portion of which collapsed on Tuesday killing dozens of people, has been riddled with structural problems since its construction in the 1960s, which has led to expensive maintenance and severe criticism from engineering experts. – Celebrated designer – The Morandi bridge was built between 1963 and 1967. It has a maximum span of 219 metres, a total length of 1.18 kilometres, concrete piers (vertical structures that […]

Nebraska conducts first US execution with fentanyl

  by Nova Safo Agence France Presse CHICAGO, United States (AFP) — Nebraska on Tuesday carried out America’s first execution using fentanyl — the opioid at the center of the country’s deadly overdose crisis — as part of a previously-untested, four-drug combination. Carey Dean Moore, sentenced to death for two 1979 murders, was the first prisoner executed in the Midwestern state in 21 years, in what was its first ever lethal injection. The 60-year-old was […]

Bus accident in Ecuador kills 24

  QUITO, Ecuador (AFP) — A bus carrying travelers from Colombia and Venezuela crashed in Ecuador early Tuesday, killing 24 people and injuring 22 others, officials said. The dead included an unspecified number of Venezuelans and Colombians, whose embassies were notified of the accident outside Quito, they said. “Most of the victims were Colombians,” said Juan Zapata, security secretary for the capital city. The bus, which had foreign license plates, was on a downward stretch […]

Genoa bridge collapse: what we know

GENOA, Italy (AFP) — As many as 30 people were killed on Tuesday when a giant motorway bridge collapsed in Genoa in northwestern Italy. Here’s what know about the bridge, the collapse and the response: – The bridge – The Morandi viaduct, less than five kilometres (three miles) to the west of Genoa’s old port, was built in the 1960s and completed in 1967. The flyover of the A10 motorway, named after the architect who designed […]

Immense tragedy: 30 dead in Italy motorway bridge collapse

  by Vincent-Xavier Morvan Agence France Presse GENOA, Italy (AFP) — About 30 people were killed on Tuesday when a giant motorway bridge collapsed in heavy rain in the Italian city of Genoa in what the government called an “immense tragedy”. The collapse, which saw a vast stretch of the A10 freeway tumble on to railway lines in the northern port city, came as the bridge was undergoing maintenance work and as the Liguria region, […]

Suspected terror attack injures pedestrians outside UK parliament

  by Martine Pauwels Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — A car crashed into barriers outside Britain’s Houses of Parliament in a suspected terror attack on Tuesday, injuring a “number of pedestrians” close to where five people were killed last year. Police said they had arrested the driver, a man in his late 20s, and were holding him on suspicion of terrorist offences. “At this stage, we are treating this as a terrorist […]

Erdogan says Turkey to ‘boycott’ US electronic goods

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday said Turkey would boycott US electronic goods, in retaliation for punitive sanctions Washington placed against Ankara over the detention of an American pastor. “We will boycott US electronic goods,” Erdogan said in a televised speech. “If (the United States) have the iPhone, there’s Samsung on the other side,” he said, referring to US giant Apple’s iconic phone and the top South Korean brand. “We (also) […]

Taiwan leader makes rare US speech

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Taiwan’s president has given a speech in the United States — the first time in 15 years that a leader of the island has spoken publicly on American soil — in a move likely to anger Beijing. During a stopover en route to Paraguay, Tsai Ing-wen, whose government refuses to endorse Beijing’s view that Taiwan is part of China, vowed to defend democratic values. “We will keep our pledge that we […]

Former Brazil finance minister charged with corruption

  BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Former Brazil finance minister Guido Mantega was indicted Monday on money laundering and other charges as part of the corruption scandal that has rocked the country’s business and political elites. Mantega, 69, is accused of taking money from construction giant Odebrecht in exchange for helping to advance legislation that favored the company, Judge Sergio Moro wrote. It is the first time Mantega has been charged in the so-called “Operation Car […]

US state poised for first execution with fentanyl

by Nova Safo Agence France Presse CHICAGO, United States (AFP) — Nebraska was scheduled Tuesday to carry out America’s first execution employing the opioid fentanyl as part of a four-drug combination that has never before been used. The powerful synthetic painkiller — a key cause of death in America’s opioid and heroin abuse epidemic — was to be the second injection administered to Carey Dean Moore, sentenced to death for two 1979 murders. Moore is […]

40 children killed in Yemen bus strike: new Red Cross toll

SANAA, Yemen (AFP) — Forty children were among 51 people killed in a Saudi-led coalition air strike on a bus in rebel-held northern Yemen, the Red Cross said in a new toll Tuesday. Fifty-six children were also among the 79 people wounded in the Thursday strike on Saada province, a rebel stronghold that borders Saudi Arabia, the International Committee of the Red Cross said. © Agence France-Presse

Ex-Australian archbishop avoids jail for concealing child abuse

by Martin PARRY Agence France Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A former Australian archbishop convicted of concealing abuse by a notorious paedophile priest in the 1970s was confronted by enraged victims outside a courthouse Tuesday after a judge spared him jail and ordered he serve his sentence at home. Philip Wilson became one of the highest-ranked church officials convicted of covering up child sex abuse when he was found guilty in May of concealing crimes […]