LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Lucasfilm announced plans Tuesday for a new series of “Star Wars” films made by the team behind “Game of Thrones,” as it seeks to build on the lucrative sci-fi franchise. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the creators of the smash-hit, Emmy Award-winning television series, will write and produce new films that are separate from the main Skywalker saga and the trilogy being developed by Rian Johnson, writer-director of “Star Wars: The Last […]
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EU to get power to punish UK during Brexit transition: sources
BRUXELLES, Belgium (AFP) — The European Union will be able to punish Britain for breaking the rules of its post-Brexit transition period under plans agreed by Brussels on Tuesday, EU sources said. Under plans for the 21-month transition after Britain leaves the bloc on March 29, 2019, London must abide by all EU laws without having any decision-making power — turning the country into what critics call a “vassal state”. The latest EU draft of the transition […]
Snow shuts Eiffel Tower as winter blast hits France
PARIS, France (AFP) — The Eiffel Tower turned away tourists on Tuesday as snow swept across northern France, causing traffic chaos in Paris during the French capital’s first real dose of wintry weather this season. The Meteo France weather service put the greater Paris region on alert for snow and black ice on roads, among 27 departments it expected to be on alert across the country until midday Wednesday. The weather caused major gridlock across the city, […]
SpaceX launches world’s most powerful rocket toward Mars
CAPE CANAVERAL, United States (AFP) — The world’s most powerful rocket, SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, blasted off Tuesday on its highly anticipated maiden test flight, carrying CEO Elon Musk’s cherry red Tesla roadster to an orbit near Mars. Screams and cheers erupted at Cape Canaveral, Florida as the massive rocket fired its 27 engines and rumbled into the blue sky over the same NASA launchpad that served as a base for the US missions to Moon four decades […]
Two dead, over 200 injured in Taiwan quake
by Amber Wang / Michelle Yun © Agence France-Presse TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — A 6.4-magnitude quake on the east coast of Taiwan has left two dead and more than 200 injured, the government said, after buildings crumbled and trapped people inside. A hotel and a residential block were the worst hit by the quake in the port city of Hualien, according to the national fire agency. Five more buildings including a hospital had also been damaged, […]
#EBCphotography: Panoramic view of Odaiba in Japan
#EBCphotography: British village at Niji no Sato in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan
#EBCphotography: Highway by Suruga Bay overlooking Mt. Fuji
#EBCphotography: A mountain park in Shizuoka City in Japan
World markets dive as investor panic spreads
by Roland Jackson Agence France Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Panic gripped trading floors across the world on Tuesday, with Asia and Europe plunging after record-breaking losses on Wall Street, as investors fretted over the prospect of rising US interest rates and took profits following months of markets euphoria. The selloff began last Friday when bright US non-farm payrolls data sparked fears that inflation will surge this year — and that the Federal […]
#EBCphotography: A view from a bridge in Moscow
#EBCphotography: A lamp post casts a warm glow over snow-covered trees in Moscow





