Colombo, Sri Lanka | AFP | A series of eight devastating bomb blasts ripped through high-end hotels and churches holding Easter services in Sri Lanka on Sunday, killing at least 207 people, including dozens of foreigners. The attacks were the worst act of violence to hit the country in the …
Read More »Sri Lanka bomber queued at hotel buffet then unleashed devastation
Colombo, Sri Lanka | AFP | The suicide bomber waited patiently in a queue for the Easter Sunday breakfast buffet at Sri Lanka’s Cinnamon Grand hotel before setting off explosives strapped to his back. Carrying a plate, the man, who had registered at the hotel the night before as Mohamed Azzam …
Read More »FAA sets multi-nation review of Boeing’s troubled Max planes
Washington, United States | AFP | The US Federal Aviation Administration is planning what it calls a comprehensive multi-nation review of the control systems of the Boeing 737 Max airliner to include experts from nine civil aviation authorities. The review is to begin April 29 and is expected to take 90 days, the FAA announced …
Read More »Trump seethes over Mueller report
Washington, United States | AFP | A seething President Donald Trump launched a tirade Friday against the “bullshit” Mueller report on how he tried to thwart the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, while a leading Democratic opponent urged his impeachment. In early morning tweets, Trump called it …
Read More »Rich vs poor: Donations row shatters French unity over Notre-Dame
Paris, France | AFP | France’s culture minister pleaded Thursday for an end to the controversy over the 850 million euros (950 million dollars) pledged to restore Notre-Dame cathedral, which critics have suggested would be better spent on the poor. Some of France’s biggest companies and billionaires, including luxury goods …
Read More »Can Notre-Dame be restored in just five years?
Paris, France | AFP | French President Emmanuel Macron has promised to complete a painstaking renovation of Notre-Dame within five years after the historic cathedral suffered a monstrous fire that destroyed its spire and roof. But will France be able to muster the necessary workers and materials to meet the challenge? …
Read More »France launches global contest to design new Notre-Dame spire
Paris, France | AFP | France will invite architects from around the world to submit designs for rebuilding the spire of Notre-Dame cathedral that was destroyed in a devastating blaze, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said Wednesday. The goal is “to give Notre-Dame a new spire that is adapted to the techniques …
Read More »Macron vows to rebuild a ‘more beautiful’ Notre-Dame in 5 years
Paris, France | AFP | President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday vowed to rebuild Notre-Dame cathedral “even more beautifully” within five years, as France reeled with shock from the fire that gutted the great Paris landmark. Macron announced the fast timescale — for a process some experts said would take decades — …
Read More »NY Times, Wall Street Journal win Pulitzers for Trump probes
New York, United States | AFP | The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal were awarded Pulitzer Prizes on Monday for their separate investigations of President Donald Trump and his family. The Times won the prestigious journalism award for explanatory reporting for its probe of the Trump family’s …
Read More »Boeing under pressure amid canceled flights, Trump tweets
New York, United States | AFP | Boeing faces a wave of flight cancelations by US airlines and pressure from President Donald Trump to rebrand its top-selling 737 MAX aircraft, a month after the plane was grounded worldwide in the wake of two deadly crashes. American and Southwest Airlines say the …
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