International

Pres. Macron signs France pension reform into law despite protests

Paris, France | AFP | Saturday 4/15/2023 by Baptiste PACE and Stuart WILLIAMS French President Emmanuel Macron signed his controversial pension reform into law Saturday, defying three months of protests and pleas from unions not to implement the legislation. The alterations became law after the text was published before dawn in France’s official journal, prompting accusations from the opposition Macron was seeking to smuggle it through in the depth of the night. The publication came […]

Japan PM resumes campaigning after blast incident

Tokyo, Japan | AFP | Saturday 4/15/2023 by Sara HUSSEIN / Tomohiro OSAKIJapanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida resumed campaigning on Saturday after being evacuated unharmed from the scene of an apparent “smoke bomb” blast. The incident in western Japan’s Wakayama came less than a year after the assassination of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, which traumatised the country and forced a security shake-up for public officials. Kishida was in the city to deliver remarks in […]

Lula says US should stop ‘encouraging’ war in Ukraine

Beijing, China | AFP | Saturday 4/15/2023  Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Saturday that the United States should stop “encouraging war” in Ukraine “and start talking about peace”. “The United States needs to stop encouraging war and start talking about peace, the European Union needs to start talking about peace,” Lula told reporters in Beijing at the end of a visit where he met with President Xi Jinping. In that way, the […]

US police kill man after responding to wrong address, video shows

Washington, United States | AFP | Saturday 4/15/2023  Police in the US state of New Mexico released footage Friday showing officers shooting a man dead after responding to the wrong address. The Farmington Police Department released body camera videos and 911 audio of the incident on April 5, in which three officers knocked on the door of the wrong house. They were responding to a call about domestic violence from 5308 Valley View Ave but […]

Japan PM safe after ‘smoke bomb’ at speech: Japanese media

Tokyo, Japan | AFP | Saturday 4/15/2023 Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was evacuated from a port in Wakayama after a blast was heard, but he was unharmed in the incident, local media reported Saturday. Several reports, including by Kyodo news agency, said an apparent “smoke bomb” had been thrown but there were no immediate signs of injuries or damage at the scene. A person was detained at the site in western Japan’s Wakayama where […]

ALERT: Japan PM evacuated after blast at speech in Wakayama: Japanese media

Tokyo, Japan | AFP | Saturday 4/15/2023 Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was rushed from a speech after a blast was heard and smoke filled the area on Saturday, local media reported. The prime minister was safe, and a person was detained at the scene at a port in Wakayama in western Japan, national broadcaster NHK and other media said. This is a developing story…

Magnitude 7.0 earthquake hits Indonesia: USGS

Jakarta, Indonesia | AFP | Friday 4/14/2023 A strong 7.0-magnitude earthquake was recorded in the sea north of the main Indonesian island of Java, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said on Friday, with no immediate reports of damage or casualties. The quake struck at 4:55 pm local time (0955 GMT), the USGS said, with Indonesia’s geological agency ruling out a tsunami after the epicentre was detected at a depth of 594 kilometres (370 miles). Indonesia […]

6.0 Magnitude earthquake strikes off Canada’s west coast

  Ottawa, Canada | AFP | Thursday 4/13/2023 – 19:10 UTC+2 | 150 words A shallow 6.0 magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of western Canada Thursday, the US Geological Survey said, but there was no tsunami threat and no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter of the quake was just five miles (eight kilometers) deep in waters more than 140 miles southwest of Port McNeil, on Vancouver Island in the western province […]

French court to have final say on pensions reform

Paris, France (AFP) by Alice HACKMAN France’s top constitutional court is to rule Friday on whether to approve President Emmanuel Macron’s deeply unpopular pensions overhaul after months of protests. A green light from the heavily guarded institution would pave the way for the head of state to sign the changes into law and ensure they are implemented by year-end. Experts believe the most likely scenario is that the nine-member body will censure some non-essential parts […]

Bodies of three Italian skiers found after avalanche

Rome, Italy (AFP) — Rescuers on Friday recovered the bodies of three Italian skiers killed in an avalanche the day before in the Alps on the French-Italian border. The bodies of three men, all Italian, were found early Friday and taken to the city of Aosta for formal identification, a spokesman for the Valdostano Alpine Rescue, Tiziano Trevisan, told AFP. Their guide, an experienced off-piste skier, managed to free himself after the avalanche hit the […]

Germany FM urges China to tell Russia to stop war

Beijing, China (AFP) by Sebastien Ricci, with Sophie Makris in Berlin German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock urged Beijing Friday to ask “the Russian aggressor to stop the war” in Ukraine, saying “no other country has more influence on Russia than China”. Speaking after a meeting with her Chinese counterpart Qin Gang in Beijing, Baerbock said she had also expressed concerns about human rights issues and warned of the dangers of escalating tensions with Taiwan. Her […]

‘Horrific’ explosion and fire kill 18,000 cattle in Texas

Houston, United States (AFP) — A “horrific” explosion and fire at a dairy farm in the southern US state of Texas killed about 18,000 head of cattle and injured one agricultural worker, authorities said on Thursday. “This was the deadliest barn fire for cattle in Texas history and the investigation and cleanup may take some time,” Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller said in a statement. The explosion and fire ripped through the Southfork Dairy Farms […]