GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — An information technology worker at the Geneva office of Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the center of the Panama Papers scandal, has been arrested, Switzerland’s Le Temps newspaper reported Wednesday. The paper, citing a source close to the case, said the IT employee had been placed in provisional detention on suspicion of stealing a large haul of confidential documents. The spokesman for the Geneva’s prosecutor’s office, Henri Della Casa, told […]
International
Anne Hathaway to help UN shine spotlight on working mothers
UNITED NATION, United States (AFP) — Oscar winner Anne Hathaway has been named a goodwill ambassador for UN Women to help shine a spotlight on the unequal burden shouldered by working mothers, the UN said Wednesday. “The ‘motherhood penalty’ — which means that when they become mothers, women’s pay and opportunities at work suffer — is a particularly insidious demonstration of gender inequality in the workplace,” said the director of UN Women, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka. “For […]
Sanders not ending campaign in Thursday’s video speech: spokesman
(REUTERS) Bernie Sanders does not plan to suspend his campaign and endorse presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in a video speech to supporters on Thursday, focusing instead on ways to pursue his policy agenda and reform goals, a spokesman said. Sanders, who has resisted pressure to exit the race and back Clinton in a show of party unity since she clinched the Democratic nomination last week, will address supporters nationwide on a video […]
Boy’s body found after Florida gator attack at Florida Disney resort
(Reuters) Police divers on Wednesday recovered the body of a 2-year-old boy who was grabbed by an alligator in front of his family during a vacation at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. The child was snatched by the alligator as he played at the water’s edge on Tuesday night and dragged into a lagoon despite his parents’ effort to save him. Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said he and a Catholic priest had informed […]
Tokyo governor resigns over spending scandal: official
by Kyoko Hasegawa TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The governor of Tokyo resigned Wednesday over spending public money on lavish hotels and spa trips, the latest setback on the mega-city’s troubled road to hosting the 2020 Olympics. Unpopular Yoichi Masuzoe fell on his sword just hours before facing a no-confidence vote, making him the city’s second governor to quit since Tokyo was named host of the 2020 summer games. Masuzoe’s predecessor Naoki Inose — who […]
2-year-old boy is dragged by alligator into lagoon on Disney property in Florida
FLORIDA, United States (Reuters) — Orange County deputies continued the search for the two-year-old boy, who was dragged by an alligator into the water near the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa on Tuesday (June 14), officials said during a news conference. The child was playing in the water on a beach when the alligator attacked, Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said. He described the alligator as between four and seven feet (1.21 meters – 2.13 […]
Costa Rica adds hydroelectric dam to clean energy grid
by Marco SIBAJA SIQUIRRES, Costa Rica (AFP) — A giant cement structure rises from the river in the middle of Costa Rica’s Caribbean tropical forest, and its turbines spin, each rotation putting the Central American country closer to its goal of relying only on renewable energy. The $1.4-billion Reventazon Hydroelectric Project is the second-biggest infrastructure work in Central America after the just-finished expansion of the Panama Canal, and following six years of construction, it’s nearly […]
Australian rodent species first victim of climate change?
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Climate change appears to have driven to extinction an Australian Great Barrier Reef rodent, according to a new study, which suggests the species may be the first mammal lost to the global phenomenon. Extensive searches for the Bramble Cay melomys, a small rat-like animal, have failed to find a single specimen from its only known habitat on a sandy island in far northern Australia. Researchers said the key factor behind the […]
Forty hurt in Paris clashes between police, protesters
by Juliette COLLEN PARIS , France (AFP) — Forty people were hurt and dozens arrested Tuesday as violence between riot police and masked troublemakers gripped huge Paris protests over France’s labour reforms. Police fired water cannon in the south of the capital to quell rioters as “several hundred” masked protesters lobbed objects at security forces in bloody scenes in the French capital. As tens of thousands of people took to the streets in nationwide protests […]
French killer’s Facebook broadcast underscores live video challenges
(REUTERS) After Larossi Abballa killed a French police commander and the commander’s partner on Tuesday, he took to Facebook Live to encourage viewers in a 12-minute video to follow his example: Kill prison staff, police officials, journalists, lawmakers. The incident underscores the immense challenges companies such as Facebook Inc, Twitter Inc and Google’s YouTube face as they push live video streaming to hundreds of millions of people. Facebook in recent months has made its […]
Obama, Clinton scold Trump over proposed Muslim ban
(REUTERS) Democratic President Barack Obama denounced Donald Trump for his proposed U.S. ban on Muslim immigrants on Tuesday, joining Hillary Clinton in portraying the Republican presidential candidate as unfit for the White House. Clearly annoyed, Obama responded to Trump’s proposed suspension of immigration from countries with a “history of terrorism” after Sunday’s killing of 49 people in an Orlando, Florida, nightclub. Obama and Clinton, the Democrat he has endorsed to succeed him in a […]
Chinese spy ship shadows U.S., Japanese, Indian naval drill in the Western Pacific
(REUTERS) A Chinese observation ship shadowed the powerful U.S. aircraft carrier, John C. Stennis, in the Western Pacific on Wednesday, a Japanese official said, joining warships from Japan and India in drills close to waters Beijing considers its backyard. The show of American naval power comes as Japan and the United States worry Beijing will look to extend its influence into the Western Pacific with submarines and surface vessels as it pushes its territorial […]
