International

France votes in presidential nailbiter

by Guy Jackson Agence France Presse France began voting Sunday under heavy security in the first round of the most unpredictable presidential election in decades, with the outcome seen as vital for the future of the beleaguered European Union. Far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist Emmanuel Macron are the favorites to progress to a run-off on May 7 but the result is too close to call in a deeply divided country. Le Pen, the […]

Chile earthquake

Magnitude 5.9 earthquake hits off Chile coast

Santiago, Chile (AFP) — A magnitude 5.9 earthquake rocked central Chile late Saturday, monitors said, though there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage. The tremor took place at 11.36 pm (0236 GMT), centered off the coast at 42 kilometers (26 miles) west of Valparaiso, according to the US Geological Survey. It had a depth of 9.8 kilometers. Chile’s National Emergency Office, or ONEMI, estimated its strength at 6.1 on the Richter scale. The […]

Arrest of WikiLeaks’ Assange a “priority:” US top cop

(Agence France Presse) — The arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is a United States “priority,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Thursday, as media reports indicated his office was preparing charges against the fugitive anti-hero. “We are going to step up our effort and already are stepping up our efforts on all leaks,” Sessions, America’s top cop, said at a news conference in response to a reporter’s question about a US priority to arrest Assange. […]

Islamic State claims Paris shooting; one policeman killed

PARIS, France (Reuters) — Paris’ Champs-Elysees boulevard looked more like a combat zone than the tourist and shopping mecca it is on Thursday night (April 20) after a drive-up-and-shoot attack in which a police officer was killed. Hundreds of police officers armed with machine guns, helmets or balaclavas and bullet-proof vests swarmed over an area of Paris popular with, but suddenly bereft of, late night shoppers, cafe customers and dance club revellers. Witness Chelloug, a […]

North Koreans move into new flats on Ryomyong Street

PYONGYANG, North Korea (Reuters) — North Korean faculty members of Kim Il Sung University and displaced people on Thursday (April 20) moved into new flats on Ryomyong street in Pyongyang, state media reports. Video filmed by the North’s state news agency KCNA, which could not be independently verified by Reuters, showed people moving into their new high-rise flat in central Pyongyang. Last week, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended the colorful opening ceremony of […]

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth celebrates 91st birthday

by Rosie Scammell Agence France Presse Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 91st birthday on Friday, with the world’s longest-reigning monarch taking a step back from royal duties to allow the younger generation to step forward. A gun salute at London’s Tower Bridge and at Hyde Park will mark the Queen’s birthday, a notably more low-key affair after a year of festivities to mark her hitting 90. A thousand beacons were lit around the country on […]

French policeman killed in Paris attack claimed by IS

by Adam Plowright, Katell Prigent and Joshua Melvin Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — A known terror suspect shot dead a French policeman and wounded two others Thursday on Paris’s Champs Elysees in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group days before a presidential election. Observers had long feared bloodshed ahead of Sunday’s vote in France following a string of atrocities since 2015 and the violence is likely to thrust security to the front of voters’ […]

Trump says ‘strong Europe’ is important for US

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — United States President Donald Trump, who once celebrated Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, said Thursday that he wants the bloc to remain strong. “Yes, a strong Europe is very, very important to me as president of the united states,” Trump told reporters at a joint news conference with Italy’s Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni. “And it is also in my opinion — in my very strong opinion — important […]

One officer killed, one wounded in Champs Elysees shooting: police

PARIS, France (AFP) — One police officer was killed and another wounded Thursday in a shooting on Paris’s Champs Elysees, police said, just days ahead of France’s presidential election. France’s interior ministry said the attacker was killed in the incident in the early evening on the world-famous boulevard. The famous shopping street in the heart of the city, which is usually teeming with tourists and Parisians, was blocked by armed police and metro stations in […]

Scared Syrian evacuees stuck at site of deadly bombing

by Omar Haj Kadour Agence France-Presse RACHIDINE, Syria  – Hundreds of frightened Syrians being evacuated from besieged towns were stuck Thursday at a rebel-held transit point where dozens of their fellow townspeople were killed in a weekend bombing. The 3,000 evacuees left their homes in the government-controlled towns of Fuaa and Kafraya at dawn on Wednesday as part of a deal under which residents and fighters are also to be evacuated from several rebel areas surrounded […]

US and South Korean Air Forces conduct joint air operations

GUNSAN, South Korea (Reuters) — The United States and South Korea air forces conducted a joint drill on Thursday (April 20) at Gunsan Air Base, amid mounting tensions on the Korean peninsula. About 1,500 US and South Korean pilots participated in the annual Max Thunder exercise, with 80 aircraft including F-16s and F-15Ks mobilized from both sides, in a bid to boost cooperation in combat situations. Tension has escalated sharply on the Korean peninsula, amid concerns that […]