International

Syrian Democratic Forces advance towards Raqqa’s city centre

RAQQA, Syria (Reuters) – Syrian Democratic Forces are pressing their offensive against Islamic State (IS) in Raqqa, advancing further towards the city centre. One fighter said they were advancing quickly against IS, noting that mines left by IS militants were slowing down their progress towards the city centre. Video footage obtained by Reuters showed a number of fighters gathering, testing drones and preparing military equipment. The Syrian Democratic Forces, made up predominantly of Kurdish fighters, […]

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Trump meets with tech CEOs on government overhaul

WASHINGTON DC, United States (Reuters) – U. S. President Donald Trump met with chief executives of technology companies including Apple and Amazon.com on Monday (June 19) as the White House looks to the private sector for help in cutting government waste and improving information technology services. Major U.S. technology company chief executives sat down with White House senior adviser Jared Kushner and other top Trump administration officials on Monday before meeting with the president The […]

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Trump, announcing death of comatose university student, denounces North Korea

WASHINGTON, DC, United States (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday (June 19) offered condolences to the family of an American university student who died days after being returned to his family in a comatose condition following 17 months of detention in North Korea. University of Virginia student Otto Warmbier had been arrested in North Korea while visiting as a tourist. He was returned to the United States last week by Pyongyang, suffering extensive […]

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‘Portugal weeps’ as deadly forest fire rages

by Marianne Barriaux and Thomas Cabral Agence France Presse PEDROGAO Grande , Portugal (AFP) — More than 1,000 firefighters were on Monday battling to get control of a massive forest fire that swept through central Portugal at the weekend, as the nation mourned the 64 killed in the flames. Many victims were burnt as they were trapped in their cars around the epicentre of the blaze in Pedrogao Grande, in what is the deadliest such […]

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Record 65.6 million people displaced worldwide: UN

by Agnès PEDRERO Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Devastating conflicts, violence and persecution in Syria, South Sudan and elsewhere left a record 65.6 million people uprooted from their homes by the end of 2016, the UN said Monday. That number marks a jump of just 300,000 from the end of 2015, but is more than six million higher than at the end of 2014, according to a report published by the UN refugee […]

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Trump decries ‘brutal’ N. Korea regime after student’s death

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump on Monday denounced North Korea as “a brutal regime” after the death of a 22-year-old US student released by the reclusive country in a coma last week. Speaking moments after news of Otto Warmbier’s death was announced publicly, Trump hit out at Pyongyang. “It’s a brutal regime,” the president said during a White House event. “Bad things happened but at least we got him home to his […]

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Russia warns US after Syrian warplane downed

by Sara Hussein with Maria Antonova in Moscow Agence France Presse BEIRUT, Lebanon (AFP) — Russia on Monday warned it would track US-led coalition aircraft in Syria as potential “targets” and halted a military hotline with Washington after US forces downed a Syrian jet. The United States moved quickly to contain an escalation, with a top general saying it would work to relaunch the “deconfliction” hotline established in 2015. The downing of the jet and […]

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London terror attack suspect named by media

CARDIFF, United Kingdom (AFP) — A 47-year-old father of four, Darren Osborne, was named in the British press as the man arrested on suspicion of ploughing a van on Monday into a group of Muslims in London. Nine people were hospitalized after a white driver, who witnesses said shouted: “I want to kill all Muslims”, slammed into a crowd near a mosque in the Finsbury Park area of London. One elderly man, who had collapsed […]

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US student evacuated from N. Korea has died: family

CHICAGO, United States (AFP) — Otto Warmbier, the US student released by North Korea in a coma last week after more than a year in detention, has died, his family said Monday. The 22-year-old, who had suffered severe brain damage, was medically evacuated to the United States on June 13. He died Monday at 2:20 pm (1820 GMT), surrounded by relatives in his home town of Cincinnati, Ohio. “It is our sad duty to report […]

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Car explodes after hitting police van on Paris’s Champs-Elysees

by Gina DOGGETT Agence France-Presse PARIS, France  – A car burst into flames after it crashed into a police van on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris on Monday, police and investigators said, adding that the driver was armed and it appeared to be a “deliberate” act. Interior ministry spokesman Pierre-Henry Brandet said police had pulled the driver out of the flaming vehicle and he was “very likely dead.” Police had said earlier that the driver […]

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Muslim teen killed after leaving Virginia mosque

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – A tight-knit Muslim community in the Virginia suburbs of Washington was grieving Monday after a teenager was apparently assaulted and killed as she left a local mosque. Friend and worshippers at the mosque, known as the All Dulles Area Muslim Society, have identified the teen as 17-year-old Nabra Hassanen of Reston, who had disappeared for several hours Sunday. While remains believed to belong to the teen were still being examined, […]

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Terror attacks and fire tragedy: Britain’s time of tumult

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) – Britain has endured a tumultuous period in recent months including four terror attacks, a catastrophic fire and a dramatic election that left Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative government badly weakened. Here are some of the key dates so far: – March 22: Khalid Masood drives a rented car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge in London and stabs to death an unarmed police officer guarding the British parliament. Five people are […]

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