An American family’s Disney vacation turned into a nightmare when an alligator snatched their two-year-old boy at the shore of a resort lake and the father was unable to pry the toddler from the animal’s jaws, officials said Wednesday. A search and rescue operation launched after the attack Tuesday night …
Read More »WHO: Zika will not spread or disrupt Olympics
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | There is a “very low risk” of the Zika virus spreading further internationally as a result of the Olympic Games in Brazil, the World Health Organization’s emergency committee on the disease said Tuesday. The statement came as worry mounted that the mosquito-borne virus, which has …
Read More »French policeman killed in fresh terror attack
A man claiming allegiance to the Islamic State group killed a French policeman and his partner, investigators said Tuesday, in what authorities blasted as an “appalling terrorist act.” President Francois Hollande held a top-level security meeting after the overnight attack, which took place as France was on high alert …
Read More »Orlando shooter homophobe and wife beater
People close to the gunman behind the attack on a gay nightclub in Florida that left 50 dead, paint a picture of a violent and prejudiced young man. The suspect, 29-year-old Omar Mateen, is a Muslim American of Afghan descent and law enforcement were investigating whether he had ties …
Read More »Fifty dead, 53 injured in Orlando mass shooting
Orlando, United States | AFP | Fifty people died and another 53 were injured early Sunday when a heavily-armed gunman opened fire and seized hostages at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, police said, in the worst mass shooting in US history. Terrified survivors — who moments before were laughing …
Read More »Five arrested for training child to pretend he was president’s son
La Paz, Bolivia | AFP | Bolivia has arrested five people for allegedly coaching a boy to pretend he was President Evo Morales’ son, and paying his family, in a soap opera-style scandal that has riveted the country, officials said Saturday. “The boy was told his entire education would be …
Read More »Best quotes from Ali memorial service
Louisville, United States | AFP | The following are a selection of key quotes from Friday’s public memorial service honoring boxing legend Muhammad Ali, who died last week at age 74 after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease: Soldier for humanity “Besides being a lot of fun to be around …
Read More »Muhammad Ali cheered in Louisville as world says goodbye
Louisville, United States | AFP | Thousands of people from the worlds of sports, entertainment, politics and Muhammad Ali’s native Louisville on Friday said farewell to the boxing legend hailed by Bill Clinton as a “universal soldier for our common humanity.” A poignant memorial service, which began with a Koranic …
Read More »Japanese ‘naked restaurant’ to ban overweight diners
Japan’s first “naked restaurant” opens in Tokyo next month with draconian rules of entry — podgy prospective diners will be weighed and ejected if found to be too fat. Following the lead of establishments in London and Melbourne, “The Amrita” — Sanskrit for ‘immortality’ — also has strict age restrictions, …
Read More »VIDEO: Obama endorses Hillary Clinton for president
Washington, United States | AFP | Barack Obama on Thursday endorsed Hillary Clinton to succeed him as president of the United States, declaring in a video message “I’m with her.” After months of assiduously avoiding tipping the scales of the Democratic presidential primaries and a Thursday meeting with Clinton’s closest …
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