International
United cuts overbooking, hikes compensation after passenger fiasco
by Nova SAFO Agence France Presse CHICAGO, United States (AFP) — United Airlines on Thursday announced it will offer bumped passengers up to $10,000 in compensation and reduce overbooking following the dragging incident on board one of its flights that caused worldwide outrage. Those and other changes, which the airline called “substantial,” are the result of a two-week internal probe of the April 9 incident, video of which went viral. Passenger David Dao was pulled from […]
Turkey detains, suspends thousands in new anti-Gulen crackdown
by Fulya OZERKAN / Stuart WILLIAMS Agence France Presse ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Turkey on Wednesday detained more than 1,000 people and suspended over 9,100 police in a vast new crackdown against alleged supporters of the US-based preacher accused of orchestrating the coup bid against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Dawn raids across the country — seeking more than 3,000 suspects — were followed by a statement from police that 9,103 police officers were being suspended […]
US vows to force N.Korea back to nuclear talks
by Thomas WATKINS Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States pledged Wednesday to step up sanctions to force North Korea to resume dialogue over its nuclear program, but said it was not looking to bring Kim Jong-Un’s regime to its knees. After briefing senators at the White House, top US officials said President Donald Trump also aimed to pursue diplomatic measures with allies and regional partners. “We are engaging responsible members […]
Trump administration unveils ambitious tax overhaul
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – The White House unveiled an ambitious tax overhaul plan Wednesday, proposing deep cuts for individuals and businesses in what it called one of the biggest tax reforms in US history. President Donald Trump’s initiative — outlined in a one-page summary — lowers the top corporate tax rate “from one of the highest in the world to one of the lowest,” from 35 percent to 15 percent, while simplifying individual tax rules, […]
Trump moves to review status of America’s nature preserves
by Jerome CARTILLIER Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States – After moving to unstitch climate change rules, US President Donald Trump Wednesday opened the door to undoing the federally protected status of some of America’s vast nature preserves. He signed an executive order reviewing decisions by predecessors Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton to designate public land a “national monument” under a 1906 law known as the Antiquities Act. “Today I’m signing a new […]
Dozen arrests over 2015 terror attack on Paris Jewish store
by Nathalie ALONSO / Gregory DANEL Agence France-Presse PARIS, France – A dozen people have been arrested in France and Belgium in connection with the weapons used in the deadly 2015 terror attack on a Jewish supermarket in Paris, a source close to the probe said Wednesday. Claude Hermant, a suspected arms dealer and former mercenary in the 1990s Balkan wars, was taken into custody along with the other suspects in raids that began Monday, […]
France says has proof Syria regime launched ‘chemical attack’
by Cécile FEUILLATRE Agence France-Presse PARIS, France – French intelligence services have scientific proof that the Syrian regime was responsible for a suspected chemical attack that killed 88 people, France’s foreign minister said Wednesday. Jean-Marc Ayrault said analysis of samples taken at the scene of the April 4 attack in rebel-held Khan Sheikhun, in which 31 children were among the dead, showed “there is no doubt that sarin gas was used” and that it was […]
US missile defence equipment reaches S.Korea site
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) – US troops began delivering a missile defence system that has infuriated China to a deployment site in South Korea Wednesday, amid heightened tensions over the North’s nuclear ambitions. Washington is urging Beijing — Pyongyang’s sole major ally — to do more to rein it in, but the Asian giant has reacted with fury to the planned installation of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. The US and ally […]
Turkey detains 1,000 in new anti-Gulen crackdown
by Fulya OZERKAN Agence France-Presse ISTANBUL, Turkey – Turkey on Wednesday detained more than 1,000 people in a huge new crackdown against alleged supporters of a cleric accused of orchestrating the coup bid against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The dawn raids across the country — seeking more than 3,000 suspects — come just over a week after Erdogan narrowly won a controversial referendum on ramping up his powers. They are the latest indication Turkey intends […]
Trump slams US court ruling against immigration order as ‘ridiculous’
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday slammed as “ridiculous” a US judge’s ruling blocking an executive order that could deny billions of dollars to so-called sanctuary cities harboring illegal immigrants. Judge William Orrick of San Francisco’s federal court on Tuesday issued a preliminary injunction barring any attempt to implement Trump’s January 25 executive order. “First the Ninth Circuit rules against the ban & now it hits again on sanctuary cities – […]
Turkey detains 1,000 alleged Gulen supporters: minister
ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Turkey on Wednesday detained over 1,000 suspects in a massive new crackdown on alleged supporters of US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, the interior minister said, a week after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won a referendum on ramping up his powers. A total of 1,009 suspects have so far been detained in raids in 72 provinces across the country, Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu was quoted as saying by the official Anadolu news agency. […]
