WORLD

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth celebrates 91st birthday London, United Kingdom | AFP | Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II celebrates her 91st birthday on Friday, with the world’s longest-reigning monarch taking a step back from royal duties to allow the younger generation to step forward. A gun salute at London’s Tower Bridge and …

Paris, France | AFP |  One police officer was killed and two others wounded Thursday in a shooting on Paris’s famed Champs Elysees, just days ahead of France’s presidential election, police said. France’s interior ministry said the gunman was killed after opening fire on the officers at around 9:00 pm …

Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP |  Israel is to take delivery of three more F-35 stealth fighters from the United States on Sunday, adding to two which arrived in December, an army statement said. They are among 50 that Israel has agreed to buy from aerospace giant Lockheed Martin. US President …

Ottawa, Canada | AFP |  Canada announced a pilot test Thursday that would see names removed from applications to work in its civil service, hoping this will eliminate any biases in the hiring process. The aim would be to have a more diverse and inclusive civil service, the government said …

Ahmadinejad barred as Iran Guardians pick vote candidates Tehran, Iran | AFP |  Former Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was barred from running in next month’s election Thursday while President Hassan Rouhani was among six candidates approved by Iran’s conservative-controlled Guardian Council, state media reported. The other candidates selected were hardliners …

  New Delhi, India | AFP |  India said Wednesday it will ban ministers and senior officials from using red beacons on their cars to cut through traffic, a longstanding privilege that has caused resentment and accusations of elitism. From May 1 only emergency services will be allowed to use …

Jalalabad, Afghanistan | AFP |  Security forceswere still blocking accessWednesday to the site in eastern Afghanistan where the US dropped a massive bomb on an Islamic State group stronghold six days ago. The US military dropped its GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast, dubbed the “Mother of All Bombs”, in combat …

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The World Health Organization on Wednesday hailed “unprecedented progress” in the fight against 18 neglected tropical diseases — including dengue fever and sleeping sickness — which kill 170,000 people and disable millions each year. The UN’s health agency, pharmaceutical companies and civil society groups led …

Tokyo, Japan | AFP |  Workaholic Japan has unveiled its first-ever plan to limit overtime, but critics want to give it the boot, saying an “outrageous” 100-hour-a-month cap will do nothing to tackle karoshi, or death from overwork. Tokyo’s bid to ease a national health crisis comes after the top …

Istanbul, Turkey | AFP |  Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday congratulated Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for winning a referendum on enhancing his powers, the Kremlin and Turkish state media said. Putin telephoned Erdogan to congratulate him over the win of the ‘Yes’ vote in Sunday’s poll, the state-run …