International

Syrian people do not want Assad in power: US envoy to UN

UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — The United States believes the Syrian people do not want President Bashar al-Assad to remain in power and does not accept that he could stand in elections, Ambassador Nikki Haley said Monday. Haley told a news conference that Assad is a “war criminal,” “a hindrance to peace for a long time” and that his treatment of Syrians was “disgusting.” The ambassador was asked about whether US Secretary of State […]

Tillerson will make first trip to UN for meeting on North Korea

  UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will make his first visit to the United Nations later this month to chair a UN Security Council meeting on North Korea, the US envoy said Monday. The April 28 meeting on non-proliferation and North Korea will be “timely” following a US-China summit this week, US Ambassador Nikki Haley told reporters. The United States holds the presidency of the Security Council […]

6.5-magnitude quake shakes southern Africa

GABORONE, Bostwana (AFP) — A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 struck the southern African nation of Botswana on Monday, United States seismologists said, with the tremor felt in several neighboring countries. The epicenter of the quake, which hit at 7:40 pm (1740 GMT), was in a sparsely populated area 238 kilometers (about 150 miles) northwest of Botswana’s capital Gaborone, the US Geological Survey said. It struck at a depth of 29 kilometers, and […]

11 dead in Russian metro ‘terror attack’

by Marina KORENEVA SAINT PETERSBURG, Russia (AFP) — Eleven people were killed and dozens more injured as an explosion rocked the Saint Petersburg metro Monday, with the Kremlin saying it bore “all the hallmarks of an attack.” Authorities shut down the metro system in Russia’s second city for several hours as security services said they had also defused a bomb at a second metro station. Russia’s Investigative Committee said it was probing an “act of […]

Putin visits scene of Saint Petersburg blast: AFP

SAINT PETERSBURG, Russia (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin went to lay flowers late Monday at the scene of the deadly blast that hit Saint Petersburg’s metro, an AFP photographer said. Putin, who made no comment, left a bouquet of red flowers at the entrance to the Technological Institute metro station where 11 people were killed and dozens injured on Monday afternoon in what authorities are investigating as a suspected terror attack. The area was […]

Federer wins Miami Open in straight-sets over Nadal

By: Adrian Manguit, Eagle News Service US, Florida Bureau (Miami, FL) – Many say rivalries are what make sports entertaining. In boxing, there was Ali vs Frazier.  For football, Manning vs Brady was “must-see TV”.  And for basketball, no one will forget the classic games of Magic vs Bird.  It is no different in tennis, as Federer vs Nadal, again, took place in Key Biscayne, FL at the Miami Open. Federer defeated Nadal in straight-sets, […]

Digital Nest Feature: National Crayon Day

DIGITAL NEST | National Crayon Day By: Joy Anne Andres, Eagle News Service US, New York Bureau This year, Crayola celebrated National Crayon Day a little differently. For the first time, the company decided to retire a color from their well known 24-pack and gave the announcement of the crayon name right in the middle of New York City’s Times Square early Friday morning. In case you haven’t heard already, Dandelion is the color we […]

Industry, academic partners team up to fight fake news

by Rob Lever / with Glenn Chapman in San Francisco Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — A global alliance of tech industry and academic organizations unveiled plans on Monday to work together to combat the spread of “fake news” and improve public understanding of journalism. The News Integrity Initiative will launch with $14 million from Facebook, the Ford Foundation, Mozilla and others, based at the City University of New York’s journalism school, which will […]

S. Korea, Japan, US hold drill against N. Korea submarines

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea, Japan and the United States held a joint naval exercise Monday aimed at countering missile threats from North Korean submarines, Seoul’s defense ministry said, amid mounting concerns over the hermit state’s weapons program. Pyongyang is on a quest to develop a long-range missile capable of hitting the US mainland with a nuclear warhead, and has so far staged five nuclear tests, two of them last year. The three-day […]

Two successive landslides cause havoc in northwest China’s Xinjiang

XINJIANG, China (CCTV) — Two successive landslides hit northwest China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region over the past weekend, interrupting local traffic and killing livestock. The two landslides happened within less than nine hours. On Saturday night, the first landslide hit Yining County around 18:00. Large amounts of debris blocked many major roads. The second landslide occurred in the same county at 02:00 of Sunday, burying 397 animals. The local government in Yining County evacuated residents […]

Ruling party set to win Armenia vote: central election commission

YEREVAN, Armenia (AFP) — Armenia’s ruling party was set to win the first parliamentary elections since the adoption of constitutional reforms transforming the country into a parliamentary republic, according to official results released on Monday. With votes tallied from 50.4 percent of precincts, the central electoral commission said pro-Russian President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party was leading the main opposition coalition, led by wealthy politician Gagik Tsarukyan, by 50.43 to 28.29 percent.

Thousands march in Paris after Chinese man’s death by police

PARIS, France (AFP) — About 6,000 people took part in angry protests in Paris on Sunday against the death of a Chinese man shot and killed when police responded to a call at his apartment last month, police said. The rally was organized by several Chinese associations in France, and as with previous rallies held over the past week, there were sporadic skirmishes between protesters and security forces. Some of the demonstrators threw bottles, eggs […]