Washington, United States | AFP | The US Air Force will this summer begin testing a laser that will be mounted on an F-15 warplane, an official said Monday. The Pentagon last year awarded a $26 million contract to Lockheed Martin for a laser program called SHiELD (Self-protect High Energy …

Beirut, Lebanon | AFP | An air strike on a school in Syria’s Eastern Ghouta late Monday killed 15 children and two women who were using its basement as a bomb shelter, a monitor said. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the bombing raid hit Arbin, a key town …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | A government crackdown on demonstrations against President Joseph Kabila in Democratic Republic of Congo has led to the killing of 47 people in just over a year, a UN report seen by AFP said Monday. “Between 1 January 2017 and 31 January 2018, at …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | A private jet used by a business family at the heart of corruption allegations against former South African president Jacob Zuma was grounded Monday by a court order, according to court documents. The whereabouts of the Bombadier Global 6000 jet is unknown, but the …

Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis urged young people on Monday to “take risks” to help the Catholic Church rejuvenate itself, a day before his new book on the subject is released in Italy. The 81-year-old pope addressed a meeting of 300 young believers at the start …

Washington, United States | AFP | The wave of refugees fleeing crop failures, droughts and rising sea levels will grow drastically over the next three decades if world governments do not intervene, the World Bank warned Monday. By 2050, 143 million “climate migrants” will face an “existential threat” and be …

Bogota, Colombia | AFP | Nine suspected FARC dissidents were killed Monday in a military operation in southern Colombia, the defense ministry said. The operation was carried out in the municipality of Calamar, in the southern central department of Guaviare, the ministry said on Twitter. Defense minister Luis Carlos Villegas …

Paris, France | AFP | China was the first world power to react Monday to Russian strongman Vladimir Putin’s re-election, vowing to push ties to a “higher level”, but Germany questioned the fairness of the vote and warned that Moscow would remain “difficult”. And 24 hours after Putin’s victory, there …

San Francisco, United States | AFP | Facebook announced Monday it has hired a digital forensics firm to investigate the handling of data on millions of Americans leaked to a consulting firm working on Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. The move by Facebook came amid an onslaught of criticism after …

San Francisco, United States | AFP | Ride-sharing giant Uber said Monday it is suspending its self-driving car program after one of the vehicles struck and killed a pedestrian in the US state of Arizona. The Uber vehicle was in autonomous mode, with an operator behind the wheel, when it …