WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) by Fanny ANDRE US prosecutors on Wednesday dropped all charges against police in the death of Freddie Gray, an African American whose fatal injury in custody provoked riots in Baltimore, despite insisting he had been killed. The lead prosecutor defended efforts to convict six officers on charges ranging from second degree murder to reckless endangerment, but criticized “reluctance and obvious bias” from individual police officers who worked to undermine the case and said […]
International
US military bases at risk from sea level rise: study
MIAMI, United States (AFP) by Kerry SHERIDAN US military bases along the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico will be increasingly vulnerable to floods and power-packed storms as the planet warms, researchers said Wednesday. The report by the Union of Concerned Scientists spanned 18 military bases, and found that many risk losing land and strategic assets in the coming decades due to sea level rise. “By 2050, most of these sites will see more than 10 […]
Trump encourages Russia to hack Clinton emails
MIAMI, United States (AFP) by Leila MACOR Donald Trump sensationally challenged Russia on Wednesday to hack into Hillary Clinton’s emails as a furious Democratic campaign accused the Republican nominee of inviting foreign spies to meddle in the US presidential election. At a sweeping news conference, the New York billionaire tried to undermine his White House rival, astonishingly implied that Vladimir Putin used a racial slur against President Barack Obama and promised a heyday of US-Russian […]
Fed leaves rates unchanged but says US economy improving
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) by Douglas Gillison The Federal Reserve left key interest rates untouched Wednesday but acknowledged improved economic performance, suggesting a rate increase may still be on the horizon in 2016. Policy makers had not been expected to raise rates, out of concern that a hike could stifle fragile growth. Their improving view on economic conditions left open the possibility of an increase in the benchmark federal funds rate, currently at 0.25-0.50 percent, […]
Turkey discharges generals, shuts media outlets after coup
ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) by Stuart WILLIAMS Raziye AKKOC Turkey on Wednesday said it was discharging 149 generals and ordering the closure of dozens of media outlets, in the next phase of its controversial crackdown in the wake of the failed coup. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who survived the biggest threat to his 13-year domination of the country when supporters countered the plotters on the streets, has blamed the July 15 coup on the reclusive US-based preacher […]
Bill Clinton urges voters to back the ‘real’ Hillary
PHILADELPHIA, United States (AFP) — Former president Bill Clinton on Tuesday urged Americans to dismiss decades of political attacks and elect the “real” Hillary Clinton this November, in a deeply personal testimonial to his wife’s character and grit. “You should elect her because she’ll never quit when the going gets tough. She’ll never quit on you,” the former president told Democratic Party delegates who selected her as their first female nominee earlier in the day. […]
History-making Clinton is Democratic presidential nominee
by Michael Mathes Andrew BEATTY PHILADELPHIA, United States (AFP) — Hillary Clinton made history Tuesday by becoming the first woman to win the presidential nomination of a major US political party, securing the backing of Democrats at a rowdy convention in Philadelphia. The former first lady, senator and secretary of state took a monumental step on her quest to become America’s first female commander-in-chief, by besting party challenger Bernie Sanders. After a tumultuous convention opening […]
Priest murdered in French church attack: what we know so far
by Pauline FROISSART PARIS, France (AFP) — An elderly priest had his throat slit in a church in northern France on Tuesday after two men stormed the building and took hostages. The attack in the Normandy town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray came as France was still coming to terms with the Bastille Day killings in Nice claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group. Here is what we know so far about the church attack: What happened? Two […]
Sanders camp nudges Democratic platform to left
PHILADELPHIA, United States (AFP) — Bernie Sanders is urging his most passionate supporters to back Hillary Clinton in the battle for the White House, assuring them they have already helped shape “the most progressive platform in the history of the Democratic Party.” The common statement of policy principles was adopted Monday on the opening day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Here are its key points: The one percent Echoing a central message of […]
One French church attacker identified as Adel Kermiche, 19: prosecutor
PARIS, France (AFP) — French Prosecutor Francois Molins said Tuesday that one of two jihadists who attacked a church in a Normandy town, and slit a priest’s throat, was 19-year-old Adel Kermiche. Kermiche was known to security services, having twice been arrested on his way to Syria, and was under house arrest and wearing an electronic monitoring bracelet at the time of the attack. Molins said Kermiche and an unknown accomplice, armed with knives, had […]
Patient shoots dead doctor in Berlin before killing himself
(Reuters) A patient shot a doctor in a university clinic in Berlin on Tuesday before killing himself, but there were “no signs at all” of a link with Islamist militancy, police in the German capital said. Germany is on edge because of a spate of violent attacks on civilians by men of Middle Eastern or Asian origin since July 18 that have killed 10 people. Islamic State militants claimed responsibility for two of those […]
Elderly priest killed in French church, attack claimed by Islamic State
(Reuters) Assailants loyal to Islamic State forced an elderly priest to his knees before slitting his throat and took several worshippers hostage in a French church on Tuesday before police shot the attackers dead. It was the latest in a wave of attacks in Europe inspired by the Islamist militant group based in Iraq and Syria that is on the defensive against a U.S.-led military coalition in which France is a major partner. The […]
