International

Global outrage after ‘barbaric’ Kabul truck bomb kills 90

    KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — President Donald Trump has condemned the “barbaric” truck-bombing in Kabul in a phone call with his Afghan counterpart, as global outrage swells over the massive blast that ripped through the diplomatic quarter, killing at least 90 and injuring hundreds. No group has so far claimed the attack, launched from a sewage tanker packed with explosives, which tore a massive crater in the ground and blew out windows across the […]

UN chief condemns terrorist attack in Afghanistan

(Reuters) – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly condemned on Wednesday the terrorist attack in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, which killed at least 80 people and injured over 350 others.   UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said that the “Secretary-General expressed his abhorrence at this act and underlined the need to reinforce the fight against terrorism and violent extremism.” He also noted that the “indiscriminate attacks against civilians are grave violations of human rights and international humanitarian law and can […]

Afghan TV studio in ruins after massive blast

KABUL, Afghanistan (Reuters) – The studio and newsrooms of television station 1TV sustained damage after a bomb hidden in a sewage tanker exploded in the morning rush hour in the center of Kabul on Wednesday (May 31), killing at least 80 people and wounding hundreds more in the Afghan capital’s unofficial “Green Zone.” Staff removed ceiling boards which had fallen off and shattered glass and doors which had been blown off due to the impact of […]

Malaysia Airlines plane turns back after ‘bomb threat’

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A Malaysia Airlines flight was forced to return to Melbourne airport Wednesday after a passenger tried to force his way into the cockpit claiming he had a bomb, officials said. Malaysian Deputy Transport Minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said the passenger, whom he identified as a Sri Lankan national, appeared to have been drunk and was overpowered by the plane’s crew. He was later arrested by airport security in Melbourne. “It is […]

Seven Kenyan police, civilian killed by IED: police

NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — Seven police officers and a civilian were killed when an armored vehicle drove over a roadside bomb in southeastern Kenya, a week after 14 others died in similar attacks claimed by Shabaab Islamists, a police source said Wednesday. “It’s unfortunate, we lost all the seven officers who were in the vehicle,” a senior police officer in the coastal Lamu district near the Somali border, told AFP. “All the bodies were found scattered […]

NBA star LeBron James’ property in L.A. vandalized with racial slur

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) – Basketball superstar LeBron James’ Los Angeles home was vandalized with a racial slur, police said on Wednesday (May 31), one day before the Cleveland Cavaliers player was set to take the court in the first game of the National Basketball Association’s finals. The graffiti was spray-painted on the front gate of James’ house and investigators are looking for any possible suspect involved in the vandalism, said Los Angeles police spokesperson Norma […]

Paris’ Eiffel Tower lights go out in honor of Kabul blast victims

PARIS, France (Reuters) – Lights were switched off at Paris’ Eiffel Tower just before midnight (2200GMT) on Wednesday (May 31) in honor of the victims of a truck bomb in Kabul, Afghanistan. A powerful bomb hidden in a sewage tanker exploded in the morning rush hour in the center of Kabul, killing at least 80 people, wounding hundreds more and damaging embassy buildings in the Afghan capital’s unofficial “Green Zone.” The victims of the explosion […]

US negotiator for Paris Agreement warns Trump that leaving could impact his legacy

(Reuters) – President Donald Trump came under pressure on Wednesday (May 31) from corporate chief executive officers, United States allies, Democrats and some fellow Republicans to keep his country in a global pact to fight climate change, but a source close to the matter said Trump was preparing to pull out of the Paris accord. “The decision by the (US) to walk away from Paris if he makes it, will resound all over the world […]

Macedonia’s parliament endorses new government

SKOPJE, Macedonia (Reuters) – Macedonia’s lawmakers on Wednesday evening (May 31) endorsed a new government led by Social Democrats which is expected to steer the way out of a two-year-long political crisis and bring the country closer to membership in the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Nearly six months after parliamentary elections on Dec. 11, 62 out of 120 deputies voted in favor of Prime Minister Zoran Zaev’s government. Forty-four lawmakers voted […]

Kabul blast toll leaps to 49 dead, more than 300 wounded: officials

by Emal Haidary Agence France Presse KABUL, Afghanistan (AFP) — At least 49 people were killed and hundreds wounded Wednesday when a massive truck bomb ripped through Kabul’s diplomatic quarter, shattering the morning rush hour and bringing carnage to the streets of the Afghan capital. Bodies littered the scene and a towering plume of smoke rose from the area, which houses foreign embassies, after the blast blew out the windows in several missions and residences […]

N. Korea prepared for new ICBM test: state media

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korea warned Wednesday it was prepared to launch intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) at any time, as the United States successfully tested a system designed to intercept them. The fresh saber-rattling from Pyongyang appeared to up the stakes as the Pentagon announced Tuesday it had intercepted a mock-up of an ICMB in a first-of-its-kind test. The success of the test is a watershed moment for the US military’s effort to […]

Former Panamanian leader Manuel Noriega dead at 83

Panama’s former leader  Manuel Noriega, ousted from power by United States troops in 1989, and who spent years in prison for drug trafficking and money laundering, has died aged 83, authorities said. Noriega died Monday in Panama City’s Santo Tomas Hospital, where he had been recovering from surgery in March to remove a brain tumor, and from a subsequent operation to clean up cerebral bleeding. President Juan Carlos Varela wrote on Twitter that Noriega’s death “closed […]