TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A Japanese man who stabbed his father to death with a chopstick was arrested on Thursday, police said. Michikazu Ikeuchi, 51, admitted that he stabbed his 80-year-old father in the throat with a 30-centimetre- (12- inch) long wooden, cooking chopstick on Wednesday night after a quarrel at their home in Osaka, western Japan, according to police. “Ikeuchi told us he had tried to stop his parents from arguing and he did […]
International
Democrats get US Senate to consider gun control measures
by Michael Mathes WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Senate Democrats claimed a small victory early Thursday, forcing the US upper house to consider legislation to help keep guns out of the hands of terrorism suspects. The move, which could break a years-long logjam on gun control, follows demands for action after the weekend massacre of 49 people at a gay nightclub in Florida. Democrats took to the floor of the Republican-controlled Senate Wednesday to launch […]
Argentina ex-minister caught hiding cash in monastery
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AFP) — Argentine police arrested a former government minister when they caught him trying to hide millions of dollars in cash and jewels at a monastery, officials said. Jose Lopez, 55, served as deputy minister for public works for 12 years under the country’s two last presidents. He was already facing corruption charges in the courts. He was caught throwing suitcases over a wall into the garden of an old monastery now […]
Trump’s long, combative war with the press
by Michael Mathes WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Donald Trump has had tense ties with reporters since launching his presidential campaign one year ago Thursday, but he took it a dramatic step further this week by banning The Washington Post from his events. The presumptive Republican nominee’s campaign has banned at least a dozen news organizations, a disturbing trend that media groups say highlights his disdain for free speech enshrined in the US Constitution’s First […]
Biden says he would not give up on pursuing stricter gun control legislation
U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday (June 15) said he would not give up on pursuing stricter gun control legislation, despite the lack of progress made since the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre. “You would’ve thought several years later that on matters relating to rational gun safety, we would’ve made some progress by now,” he told a Sandy Hook Promise reception in Washington, D.C. “Virginia Tech, Oak Creek, Charleston, San Bernardino, and now […]
S. Korea holds navy drill near disputed border with North
SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea on Thursday kicked off a live-fire naval exercise near its disputed sea border with North Korea — a move likely to fan already elevated military tensions with Pyongyang. The three-day exercise in the Yellow Sea is aimed at practising responses to simulated incursions by North Korean vessels and aircraft, the South’s navy said in a statement. The manoeuvres will involve 20 naval ships, including an Aegis destroyer, as […]
China ship tailing US aircraft carrier in Pacific
A Chinese observation ship shadowed the U.S. aircraft carrier John C. Stennis in the Western Pacific on Wednesday (June 15), the carrier’s commander said, as it joined warships from Japan and India for drills close to waters Beijing considers its backyard. The show of U.S. naval power comes as Japan and the United States worry China is extending its influence into the western Pacific with submarines and surface vessels as it pushes territorial claims in […]
Arizona wildfire triggers evacuation, state of emergency declared in New Mexico
A raging fire broke out in Arizona and continued burning in New Mexico on Wednesday (June 15) forcing evacuations, NBC reported Authorities ordered the mandatory evacuations from homes in the town of Forestdale, Arizona, after the wildfire sparked on Wednesday grew to 2,500 acres 12 miles south of Show Low, local media reported. The Cedar Creek Fire was nearing a road that would trigger evacuations. Navajo County officials issued a “pre-evacuation” orders for Show Low, […]
Foreign protesters’ bark unleashes Chinese dog eaters’ bite
by Benjamin CARLSON YULIN, China (AFP) — International groups and celebrities, backed by millions of foreign petitioners, have rallied against an annual dog meat festival in the Chinese city of Yulin: but the protests may have backfired, residents say, spurring more people to eat man’s best friend. “My store’s dog-meat sales are much higher than before, last year was up more than 50 percent,” the owner of Yulin Number One Crackling Dog Meat Shop told […]
North Korea celebrates founding anniversary of International Taekwondo Federation
North Korea held a meeting on Wednesday (June 15) in Pyongyang to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding International Taekwondo Federation (ITF). Video provided to Reuters by North Korea’s state news agency KCNA, which cannot be independently verified, showed ITF members were seen watching demonstration of taekwondo and attending a meeting. ITF’s president Ri Yong Son, vice president Leong Wai Meng, honorary President Chang Ung and Taekwondo instructors and coaches attended at the events, […]
Obama to console grieving families in Orlando
by Daniel WOOLLS ORLANDO, United States (AFP) — President Barack Obama will come face to face with the heartbreaking aftermath of America’s deadliest mass shooting when he visits Orlando Thursday to comfort grieving families and thank emergency medical crews. Obama, traveling with Vice President Joe Biden, will offer his condolences to families of 49 people killed in Sunday’s shooting at a gay nightclub in the central Florida city. Another 53 people were wounded. The White […]
Pieces of missing EgyptAir plane found: investigators
CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) — Pieces of the cabin from the missing EgyptAir plane which crashed into the Mediterranean last month have been found, Egyptian investigators said Wednesday. A French vessel taking part in the search discovered pieces of fuselage at “several sites”, the Egyptian board of inquiry said in a statement. The Airbus A320 which had been en route from Paris to Cairo disappeared on May 19, with the loss of all 66 people on […]
