Associated Press US customs officials say drug dogs sniffed out Philadelphia’s largest seizure of cocaine in more than two decades. Local, state and federal law enforcement officials said on Thursday that 450 bricks of cocaine were found inside 13 duffel bags in a shipping container. Customs and Border Protection’s Area Port Director for Philadelphia Joseph
AFP THE death toll from a huge explosion at a chemical plant in eastern China surged to 47 on Friday, making it one of the country’s worst industrial accidents in recent years. More than 600 people are receiving medical treatment following Thursday afternoon’s blast at the industrial park in Yancheng, said the city government on
Associated Press WORN down by three years of indecision in London, European Union leaders on Thursday grudgingly offered the UK more time to ease itself out of the bloc, delaying by several weeks but not eliminating the threat of a chaotic British exit. After a meeting that stretched through the afternoon and over dinner, the
By AFP New Zealand imposed an immediate ban on assault weapons on Thursday, taking swift action in response to the Christchurch massacre and triggering renewed calls from leading American politicians for curbs in the United States. New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said assault rifles and military-style semi-automatic weapons would be banned with immediate effect,
By AFP Delaying Brexit to June 30 would bring “serious legal and political risks”, the European Commission warned on Wednesday in an internal briefing note ahead of an EU summit. Britain has asked to postpone Brexit to that date, but the commission, the EU’s executive arm, urged leaders to choose instead between a short delay
By Associated Press Authorities on Thursday were moving about 2,000 people inland from part of Australia’s northern coast ahead of a powerful cyclone expected to hit on Saturday. Evacuees were being moved by air and road from remote, mostly indigenous communities on the east coast of the Northern Territory, with most going to the provincial
By AFP A Syrian refugee and his son were buried in New Zealand on Wednesday in the first funerals of those killed in the twin mosque massacre as Kiwis braced for days of emotional farewells following the mass slayings. An Australian white supremacist is accused of gunning down 50 Muslim worshippers and wounding many more
By BBC The current deadlock over Brexit and possible delay to the UK’s planned leaving date of 29 March suggests democracy in the UK is “all but dead”, Donald Trump Jr has claimed. Trump Jr, who is the US president’s son but holds no political position, wrote a column in the Daily Telegraph. In it,
By AFP British Prime Minister Theresa May will write to EU President Donald Tusk with a plan for delaying Brexit beyond March 29, her spokesman said, admitting the parliamentary deadlock had reached crisis levels. The letter will be sent before May heads to a Brussels summit on Thursday, where she has already promised to seek
By AFP At least 89 people are known to have died after flash floods and landslides tore through Indonesia’s Papua region, with the toll expected to rise further as rescuers hunt for dozens still missing, the national disaster agency said on Tuesday. Scores have also been injured in the disaster, triggered by torrential rain on
By CNN A Chinese buyer bid more than $1.4 million for a prized Belgian racing pigeon in an “unprecedented” sale, according to the auctioneer that organized the sale. The pigeon, named Armando, is considered to be the best long-distance racing pigeon “of all time” according to PIPA, the website that organized the sale. The bird
By AFP Boeing and US aviation regulators are coming under intense scrutiny over the certification of the 737 MAX aircraft after news that two recent crashes share similarities. On March 11, just a day after the Ethiopia crash left 157 dead, a grand jury in Washington issued a subpoena to at least one person involved
By BBC Indian authorities are investigating a possible smuggling ring after discovering a live human embryo in a suitcase at Mumbai’s airport. A Malaysian national was allegedly found with the embryo in a canister concealed in his luggage on 16 March. The man, who reportedly admitted this was not the first time he had smuggled
By Associated Press The leafy New Zealand city where a self-proclaimed racist fatally shot 50 people at mosques during Friday prayers is known for its picturesque meandering river and English heritage. For decades, Christchurch has also been the centre of the country’s small but persistent white supremacist movement. An expert on such fringe groups says
By BBC A “lot more work” is required to get MPs to back Theresa May’s Brexit deal, Jeremy Hunt has said, amid uncertainty over whether it will be put to a vote for a third time this week. The foreign secretary said there were “encouraging signs” that opponents of the deal were slowly coming round.
By AFP Democrats led by an Arab-American lawmaker attacked President Donald Trump’s “silence” on the rise of white supremacy Sunday as reaction to the New Zealand mosque massacre spilled into a heated US debate over religious and racial bigotry. With controversy swirling over Trump’s tepid response to the massacre, White House chief of staff Mick
By BBC British Prime Minister Theresa May, has asked MPs to make an “honourable compromise” as she seeks to persuade them to back her Brexit deal at the third time of asking. Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, the prime minister said failure to support the deal would mean “we will not leave the EU for
Africa News The wave of shock following a mass shooting in New Zealand has been felt the world over. While condemning the attack, world leaders have expressed their solidarity with the victims. U.S President Donald Trump conveyed his ‘‘warmest sympathy and best wishes to the people of New Zealand after the horrible massacre in the
By BBC Prime Minister Theresa May will try to persuade MPs for a third time to back her Brexit deal over the coming days. The Commons will vote on her withdrawal agreement by 20 March, after previously rejecting it by 230 and then 149 votes. On Thursday, MPs voted to ask the EU to delay
By AFP TWO former pupils shot dead eight people, most of them students and staff, at a high school near Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Wednesday before turning their weapons on themselves, authorities said. The two assailants burst into the school grounds in the early morning, armed with a .38 caliber revolver and a “medieval weapon
