International
One dead, one missing after quake hits Italy holiday island
ROME, Italy (AFP) — A 4.0-magnitude earthquake struck the Italian holiday island of Ischia late Monday, causing destruction that left one person dead and one missing at peak tourist season, authorities said. A woman was killed in Casamicciola, in the north of the small tourist island, hit by debris that fell from a church, with around 25 people injured in the quake, for the most part lightly. At a press conference early Tuesday, the head […]
Trump open to eventual political deal with Taliban
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump Monday left the door open to an eventual political deal with the Taliban, in an address on America’s news strategy in the 16-year Afghan conflict. “Someday, after an effective military effort, perhaps it will be possible to have a political settlement that includes elements of the Taliban in Afghanistan,” he said. “But nobody knows if or when that will ever happen,” he added, before vowing that “America will […]
Rocket lands in Kabul diplomatic area: police
KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — A rocket landed in the heavily fortified diplomatic area of the Afghan capital Kabul late Monday, police said, hours before United States President Donald Trump was due to announce his long-awaited strategy for the war-weary country. It was the latest in a series of attacks in the city and it comes less than three months after a massive truck bomb ripped through the same area, killing about 150 and wounding around […]
Alleged Barcelona killer was ‘a normal factory worker’
by Laurence Boutreux Agence France Presse RIPOLL, Spain (AFP) — The alleged Barcelona attacker who was killed Monday grew up in a small Catalan town where he seemed “nicely integrated” like his younger brother who also died as part of the same terror cell, residents said. Younes Abouyaaqoub, a 22-year-old Moroccan, was shot by police not far from Barcelona in northeastern Spain after a four-day manhunt for the man who allegedly drove a van through […]
US launches probe after second deadly Navy collision
by Dave Clark and Martin Abbugao in Singapore Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States Navy announced a fleet-wide global investigation on Monday after the latest in a series of accidents left another 10 sailors missing and five more injured. Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John Richardson ordered crews to prepare pauses in their operations to allow a “comprehensive review” of practices after the destroyer USS John McCain collided with a […]
Total solar eclipse begins on US West Coast
by Sébastien VUAGNAT / with Kerry SHERIDAN in Charleston Agence France-Presse MADRAS, United States – Emotional sky-gazers on the US West Coast cheered and applauded Monday as the Sun briefly vanished behind the Moon — a rare total solar eclipse that will stretch across North America for the first time in nearly a century. Eclipse chasers and amateur star watchers alike converged in cities along the path of totality, a 70-mile (113-kilometer) wide path running through 14 […]
Brazilian army, police raid violent Rio favelas
by Sebastian Smith Agence France-Presse RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Brazil’s army went into action again Monday to support police in raids on some of Rio de Janeiro’s most violent favelas — but not before a rogue soldier allegedly tipped off the drug gangs. In the third such operation in just over two weeks, about 5,000 marines, army soldiers, air force personnel, police and agents from the elite federal intelligence service launched raids at dawn in seven neighborhoods, […]
One dead after van hits people at Marseille bus stops
by Catherine Rama and Andrea Palasciano Agence France-Presse MARSEILLE, France – One person was killed and another seriously injured in the southern French city of Marseille on Monday after a convicted criminal with psychiatric problems drove a van into people waiting at two bus stops, police said. The incident comes with Europe on high alert following last week’s car ramming attacks in northeastern Spain. But Marseille’s prosecutor Xavier Tarabeux said there was no evidence of a […]
South Asia floods claim more than 750 lives
NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — More than 750 people have died in floods across South Asia, officials said Monday, with monsoon rains also causing the deaths of hundreds of animals, including rhinos and a tiger. The human toll is steadily rising across India, Nepal and Bangladesh following the latest in a series of deluges since August 10, as the annual monsoon hits the north and east of the region. Nearly 50 bodies were found overnight […]
CCTV footage shows Barcelona attack suspect – media
BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) — CCTV images believed to be of the suspect in last week’s Barcelona terror attack were released on Monday (August 21). According to local media, the three still pictures show the suspect entering and leaving the popular Boqueria Market in Las Ramblas, where the driver of a van rammed into crowds last Thursday (August 17) killing 13 people. Spanish police have been searching for Younes Abouyaaqoub, a 22-year-old Moroccan-born man, who investigators believe […]
Motorist falls into giant sinkhole in China
BEIHAI, GUANGXI PROVINCE, China (CCTV) — A motorist in the Southern Chinese city of Beihai had a narrow escape after plunging into a sinkhole on Thursday (August 17). The man, who was using his mobile phone, failed to notice the giant hole in the ground as he sped towards it. He emerged from the scene unharmed, state broadcaster CCTV said.
