ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — At least 17 people have been killed and another 36 wounded after a bus carrying illegal immigrants hit a lighting pole in eastern Turkey and burst into flames, local media reported on Friday. The bus, which crashed late Thursday on the Igdir-Kars highway, was carrying nationals from Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported. Images in Turkish media showed smoke rising from the charred bus with its front smashed […]
International
Trudeau ‘disappointed’ Pope won’t apologize to Canada indigenous people for Catholic Church abuse
OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — Pope Francis has declined to apologize for the abuse of indigenous Canadians at church-run boarding schools, drawing a polite rebuke Wednesday from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In an open letter, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote: “After carefully considering the request and extensive dialogue with the Bishops of Canada, (the Pope) felt that he could not personally respond.” At the same time, however, the pontiff encouraged bishops to engage […]
Bus fire kills 20 Myanmar migrants in Thailand
BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Twenty Myanmar migrant workers died early Friday as fire tore through a bus taking them from a Thai border town to Bangkok, officials said. It was not immediately clear how the blaze started on the bus — one of four travelling together to the Thai capital. But television footage showed a bus destroyed by fire which trapped many passengers inside. “The death toll is now 20, with three people injured,” […]
Trump says US withdrawing from Syria ‘very soon’
RICHFIELD, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump insisted Thursday that US forces would pull out of Syria “very soon” and lamented what he said was Washington’s waste of $7 trillion in Middle East wars. In a populist address to industrial workers in Ohio, Trump said US forces were close to securing all of the territories that the Islamic State jihadist group once claimed. “We’ll be coming out of Syria, like, very soon. Let […]
Strong quake hits Papua New Guinea, tsunami threat over
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck the New Britain island of Papua New Guinea on Friday, US seismologists said, but a tsunami threat from the tremor was over. The quake struck at 5:25 pm local time (2125 GMT) about 162 kilometers from the New Britain town of Rabaul, the US Geological Survey said. It was initially recorded at a shallow depth of 10 kilometers (six miles) before it was revised by the […]
Hunt underway for driver who tried to ram French soldiers
PARIS, France (AFP) — A hunt was underway Thursday for a man who tried to ram his car into soldiers jogging near their barracks in southeast France, without causing any injuries, the army said. The man first threatened a group of soldiers who were out jogging at around 8am in Varces-Allieres-et-Risset, near Grenoble, and later tried to run down another group of soldiers returning from a jog, army spokesman Colonel Benoit Brulon told AFP. […]
US court rules Trump illegal payments suit can proceed
by Cyril Julien Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A federal court in the US state of Maryland on Wednesday ruled a lawsuit accusing President Donald Trump of receiving illegal foreign payments via his sprawling business empire can move forward. But while Judge Peter Messitte rejected the motion to dismiss the suit, he limited its scope to the nation’s capital. The lawsuit — which was brought by Washington and Maryland — alleged that […]
Vatican finance chief awaits decision over sex offences trial
MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — Vatican finance chief Cardinal George Pell faces a nervous wait after a hearing to determine if he will stand trial on historical sexual offence charges adjourned Thursday. After four weeks of witness statements, and cross-examinations by Pell’s lawyers, magistrate Belinda Wallington retired to decide if there is sufficient evidence for the case to go to trial. A decision is expected some time in April. The 76-year-old, who is a […]
North, South Korea to hold summit on April 27: officials
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) –The two Koreas on Thursday set a date for a rare inter-Korean summit, following a high-level meeting that was held days after the nuclear-armed North’s leader Kim Jong Un made his international debut with a surprise trip to China. “According to the will of both leaders, the South and North agreed to hold the ‘2018 South-North summit’ on April 27 at the South’s Peace House in Panmunjom,” said a joint press […]
Prosecutor says 68 dead in Venezuela prison fire
CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — A fire allegedly set during an attempted jailbreak from Venezuelan police holding cells killed 68 people on Wednesday, the country’s top prosecutor and an inmates’ rights group said. The blaze at the detention facility in Carabobo state is the latest in a series of deadly incidents in Venezuela’s overcrowded jails. “In light of the terrible events that took place in the Carabobo state police headquarters, where 68 people died in a presumed […]
Malala makes first trip to Pakistan since Taliban attack
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AFP) — Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai returned to Pakistan on Thursday, officials said, in her first visit to her native country since she was shot in the head by a Taliban gunman for advocating education for girls in 2012. Precise details of her itinerary have been “kept secret in view of the sensitivity surrounding the visit,” a government official said of the trip, which is expected to last four days and include […]
Trump ousts Veterans Affairs chief, taps WH doctor to replace him
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — US President Donald Trump shook up his cabinet once again on Wednesday, sacking embattled Veterans Affairs Secretary David Shulkin and nominating White House doctor Ronny Jackson as his successor. “I am pleased to announce that I intend to nominate highly respected Admiral Ronny L. Jackson, MD, as the new Secretary of Veterans Affairs,” said Trump, who has also replaced his secretary of state and national security advisor in the last […]
