International

Brazil’s Lula closer to prison after Supreme Court votes

by Damian Wroclavsky with Sebastian Smith in Rio de Janeiro © Agence France-Presse BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil’s former president and current election frontrunner Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva looked increasingly likely to face prison Wednesday after a key judge on the divided Supreme Court voted against allowing him to delay a sentence for corruption. After more than five hours of deliberations, the Supreme Court justices had voted 5-1 in favor of denying Lula his request […]

Students join US teacher protest in Oklahoma

  by Veronique Dupont / with Nova Safo in Chicago © Agence France-Presse OKLAHOMA CITY, United States (AFP) — Students joined teachers in Oklahoma City Wednesday for a third day of protests demanding that state lawmakers increase funding for public schools after years of budget cuts. “We the students of Oklahoma are with you for as long as this strike takes,” student Cameron Olbert told a rally outside the state capitol, epicenter of a demonstration that […]

Trade war inches closer as US-China tensions mount

  by Douglas Gillison © Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The escalating confrontation between Washington and Beijing inched closer to all-out trade war on Wednesday after China threatened retaliation against key US exports. Beijing unveiled plans for painful import duties targeting politically-sensitive US exports, including soybeans, aircraft and autos, to retaliate against looming US tariffs on more than 1,000 Chinese goods. Wall Street opened sharply lower but investors apparently later decided their fears might […]

Police were warned of shooter grudge against YouTube

  by Glenn Chapman / with Paul Handley in Washington © Agence France-Presse SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Police said Wednesday they had been alerted that the Iran-born animal rights activist who shot three people before killing herself at YouTube’s California headquarters, was believed to have a vendetta against the online giant. The father of Nasim Najafi Aghdam informed police in the Silicon Valley hub of Mountain View that she had gone missing from her […]

Trump promises Syria pullout, but sets no end date

  by Dave Clark / with Andrew Beatty © Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump’s White House vowed Wednesday that the US mission in Syria would come to a “rapid end” but failed to put a timetable on an eventual withdrawal. Just days after Trump shocked aides and allies by declaring that the 2,000 troops would come home soon, US officials moved to scotch talk of a precipitous pullout. The decision will […]

YouTube shooting shows how fake news spirals on social media

by Frédéric POUCHOT / Fiachra GIBBONS Agence France-Presse PARIS, France – Within minutes of the shooting at YouTube offices in California, social media was awash with conspiracy theories and images of the supposed “shooter” wearing a Muslim headscarf. Some Facebook videos were quick to claim that it was a “false flag” attack, carried out to discredit the powerful US gun lobby in the wake of the Parkland high school massacre in Florida. With wildly exaggerated […]

Pentagon hustles to jump in line with Trump’s border directive

by Thomas WATKINS Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States – Pentagon planners scrambled Wednesday to find ways to support President Donald Trump’s surprise edict that he would send “the military” to guard America’s southern border. The commander-in-chief’s seemingly off-the-cuff directive blindsided officials Tuesday, when Trump said the military would guard the frontier until “we can have a wall and proper security.” It took hours for the White House to clarify that Trump’s plan involved mobilizing the […]

Russia says spy poisoning ‘grotesque provocation’ by UK, US

  MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — The head of Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence agency said Wednesday the poisoning of a Russian former double agent in Britain was a “grotesque provocation” by the British and US security services. “Even when it comes to the grotesque provocation with the Skripals that was crudely concocted by the British and American security services, a number of European countries are in no rush to unquestioningly follow London and Washington but prefer […]

Kremlin demands apology from British PM over spy row ‘idiocy’

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — The Kremlin has demanded an apology from British Prime Minister Theresa May and her government which implicated President Vladimir Putin in the nerve agent attack on a former double agent, saying this “idiocy has gone too far” “Their theory will not be confirmed in any case because it is not possible to confirm it,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on a visit to Ankara Tuesday evening. “And the British foreign minister who […]

Skills shortage hampers Portugal’s economic recovery

  by Daniel Silva  Agence France-Presse LISBON, Portugal (AFP) — When French technology consultancy Altran needed to hire staff for a new center in Porto, it held a recruitment fair on board a boat docked in the northern Portuguese city’s colorful riverside area. Dozens of recent graduates mingled with Altran staff as they enjoyed sweeping views of Porto’s iconic double-deck metal arch bridge. At the end of the day Altran managed to fill just over 20 […]

Teachers return to streets to protest US school funding

  by Nova Safo Agence France Presse CHICAGO, United States (AFP) — A teachers’ protest entered its second day in the US state of Oklahoma on Tuesday as lawmakers faced a spreading schoolhouse revolt against a decade of deep cuts to public education. The teachers’ union organizing the demonstration estimated at least 20,000 people rallied outside the capitol building in Oklahoma City and filled every floor of the rotunda inside — chanting “We’re not leaving” […]

Female suspect dead, several hurt in YouTube shooting

  by Josh Edelson Agence France Presse SAN BRUNO, United States (AFP) — Gunfire erupted at YouTube’s offices in California Tuesday, leaving at least three people injured and sparking a panicked escape before the suspected shooter — a woman — apparently committed suicide. Amid a chaotic scene in the city of San Bruno, a woman believed to be the shooter was found dead at the scene of the Google-owned video sharing service. “We have one […]