WORLD

Los Angeles, United States | AFP | Almost half the 683 people invited this year to join the organization that bestows the Oscars are women and nearly as many people of color, the body announced on Wednesday in a bid to honor its vow to push for more diversity. The …

Ankara, Turkey | AFP | Turkey declared Wednesday a day of national mourning over a deadly attack at Istanbul’s international airport blamed by the government on Islamic State jihadists. The government has ordered flags at half-staff. Turkey declared three days of national mourning after a twin suicide bombing in the …

Istanbul, Turkey | AFP | At least 36 people were killed and 88 wounded in a triple suicide bombing at Istanbul’s Ataturk airport on Tuesday, the private Dogan news agency reported. Two police officers were among the dead, Dogan said. Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said Wednesday that early signs …

China’s homegrown regional jet made its first commercial flight Tuesday, operator Chengdu Airlines said, after years of delays raised questions about the country’s ambitious plans for domestically-produced planes. Chengdu Airlines flew the ARJ21 from its eponymous home base, the capital of the southwestern province of Sichuan, to the commercial hub …

Police in Rio de Janeiro protested Monday against late payment of salaries and a lack of equipment ranging from car fuel to toilet paper as the Brazilian city prepares to host the Olympic Games. About 300 police clad in black T-shirts stood on the steps of the Rio de Janeiro …

Rome, Italy | AFP | Italian actor Bud Spencer, who starred in a string of spaghetti westerns, died on Monday in Rome aged 86, his family confirmed. “With our deepest regrets, we have to tell you that Bud is flying to his next journey,” his family said on Spencer’s Twitter …

Britain “may never” trigger the formal divorce process with the EU despite last week’s referendum in which the country voted to leave, EU diplomats said Sunday. “My personal belief is they will never notify” the EU about their intention to leave, a senior EU diplomat said on condition of anonymity. …

Paris, FRANCE | AFP | It started with “Grexit” — the long trumpeted but never realised axing of Greece from the European Union. It was then reborn as “Brexit” as Britain started down the — this time voluntary — path of leaving the bloc. The “-exit” formulation was coined by …

Brussels, Belgium | AFP | It consists of just five short, vaguely worded paragraphs, but Article 50 of the European Union’s 2007 Lisbon Treaty will decide how Britain leaves — and it is already causing problems. The short section buried in the laws that govern the EU has never been …

Yerevan, Armenia | AFP | Pope Francis on Saturday issued a rallying cry to remember the past after visiting the Armenian genocide memorial in Yerevan, on day two of a trip likely to stir tensions with Turkey. “A century has just passed from the ‘Great Evil’ unleashed upon you. This …