By Pia Ohlin STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) — A truck slammed into a crowd of people outside a busy department store in central Stockholm on Friday, causing “deaths” in what the prime minister described as an “terror attack.” “There are deaths, and many injured,” Nina Odermalm Schei, a spokesperson for Swedish intelligence agency Sapo, told AFP, without giving a precise figure. “Sweden has been attacked. Everything points to a terror attack,” said Prime Minister Stefan Lofven. […]
EU
Moscow slams US ‘aggression’ in Syria; suspends air safety deal
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Moscow slammed the United States strike on a Syrian airbase Friday as “aggression against a sovereign state,” and suspended a bilateral agreement to help avoid clashes in the skies over the war-torn country. “President (Vladimir) Putin considers American strikes on Syria aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international norms, and under an invented pretext,” said the statement by the Kremlin press service posted on the official website. […]
Spanish police stage raids targeting Assad family’s assets: judicial source
MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Police in southern Spain Tuesday staged raids targeting assets of the family of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, a judicial source said. The raids, in the Puerto Banus marina area of the plush resort of Marbella, are the result of a corruption investigation launched in France against Assad’s uncle, Rifaat al-Assad, the source said.
Gibraltar will ‘be no victim of Brexit’
GIBRALTAR, United Kingdom (AFP) — Gibraltar will “be no victim of Brexit” and will adopt to a new reality outside of the European Union, the chief minister of the tiny British territory said Wednesday. Fabian Picardo also vowed to fight any attempt by Spain to gain more control over “the Rock” during negotiations over Britain’s exit from the bloc. “As far as we are concerned, this day brings us nothing to celebrate. But it also […]
US senator warns of Russian interference in French election
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) – The head of the powerful Senate Intelligence Committee warned Wednesday that Russia is interfering in the French election just as it did in the US presidential campaign last year. Senator Richard Burr, who has access to some of the most highly classified US intelligence, said Moscow has shown a clear will and ability to disrupt elections in Western democracies. “What we might assess was a very covert effort in 2016 […]
PM May says ‘there can be no turning back’ after Brexit trigger
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Prime Minister Theresa May said there could be “no turning back” and called for national unity on Wednesday after notifying the European Union of Britain’s intention to end its 44-year membership of the bloc. “This is a historic moment from which there can be no turning back,” she told parliament, adding: “Now is the time for us to come together,” she added.
Arrests in Paris amid protests over police killing of Chinese man
By Katell Prigent PARIS, France (AFP) — Ten people were arrested in a second night of protests in Paris over the killing by police of a Chinese father of five, an incident that has caused tensions with Beijing. Around 400 members of the Asian community and supporters of anti-racism groups gathered outside a police station in the northeast of the capital to again denounce the fatal shooting of Shaoyo Liu, 56, in his home two days […]
Music icon Bob Dylan to receive Nobel prize in Stockholm this weekend
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AFP) — Music icon Bob Dylan is set to receive his Nobel prize this weekend at a meeting with the Swedish Academy in Stockholm. “The good news is that the Swedish Academy and (Dylan) have decided to meet this weekend. The Academy will then hand over Dylan’s Nobel diploma and the Nobel medal, and congratulate him on the Nobel Prize in Literature,” Sara Danius, permanent secretary of the Academy, wrote in a blog […]
Scottish lawmakers back independence on eve of Brexit
by Mark MCLAUGHLIN / Rosie SCAMMELL Agence France-Presse EDINBURGH, United Kingdom – Scotland’s parliament voted Tuesday to back First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s call for a second independence referendum, another headache for Prime Minister Theresa May as she battles to keep the country united just a day before triggering Brexit. The vote by lawmakers in Edinburgh was 69 in favour and 59 against despite May’s last-minute appeals. “I hope the UK government will respect the will of […]
Swiss authorities open inquiry into weekend rally vs Turkish President Erdogan
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Swiss authorities have opened an investigation into a weekend rally against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which Ankara dubbed a “terrorist gathering,” Switzerland’s ATS news agency reported Monday. During Saturday’s demonstration in the capital Bern, organized by Kurdish groups, some people brandished a banner showing a gun pointing at Erdogan alongside the words “Kill Erdogan.” Turkey summoned the Swiss ambassador on Sunday to protest at the rally, claiming it was organized […]
Hollande seeks to boost ties with Asia in face of “isolationism”
SINGAPORE, Singapore (AFP) — French President Francois Hollande called Sunday for efforts to intensify the relationship between Europe and Asia in the face of resurgent “isolationism.” He was speaking in Singapore, the first stage of the last international tour of his five-year term which will also take him to Malaysia and Indonesia. “I appeal for us to intensify our exchanges, our trade, political and cultural agreements,” he said. “This is all the more necessary […]
New arrests as British police release new photo of parliament attacker
By James Pheby LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — British police said Friday they had made further “significant” arrests over the Islamist-inspired terror attack on parliament, as they released the first picture of the homegrown killer who left four people dead. Khalid Masood, a 52-year-old Briton with a history of violent offenses but no terrorist convictions, was shot by police on Wednesday after a rampage through Westminster. Two other suspects are in custody following searches at 21 […]