International News

Police hurt, scores arrested as French protests turn violent

  • PARIS, (APP/AFP): Two dozen police officers were injured Thursday, three of them seriously, as violence flared in mass protests across France against a hotly contested labour reform bill. Security forces in Paris responded with tear gas as masked youths threw bottles and cobblestones, leaving three policemen with serious injuries, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said, adding […]

  • Pakistan calls for strengthening UN Peace-Building Commission

    UNITED NATIONS, (APP): Pakistan has underscored the need for enhancing the effectiveness of the United Nations Peace-Building Commission (PBC), saying the 31-member intergovernmental body plays an important role in improving the lives of ordinary people affected by conflict. “Peace-building activities produce tangible results on ground,” Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi told the UN General Assembly during a […]

  • German inflation slows again in April: preliminary data

    FRANKFURT, (APP/AFP) – Inflation in Germany ground almost to a halt again in April, dragged down by falling energy prices, a preliminary estimate showed on Thursday. Germany’s national inflation yardstick, the consumer price index, rose by just 0.1 percent April compared with 0.3 percent in March, the federal statistics office Destatis said. And using the […]

  • Body of rumba king Papa Wemba returns to DR Congo

    KINSHASA, (APP/AFP) – The body of Congolese “rumba king” Papa Wemba arrived in Kinshasa on Thursday, greeted by officials and a huge crowd of distraught fans after his fatal collapse during a show in Ivory Coast. His body was flown home after the Ivory Coast held an-all night musical tribute to honour the legendary African […]

  • Concordia skipper fights to avoid prison over Italy disaster

    FLORENCE, Italy, (APP/AFP): Costa Concordia skipper Francesco Schettino on Thursday began his battle to avoid prison for causing the 2012 cruise ship disaster off Italy which cost 32 people their lives. Schettino was sentenced in February 2015 to 16 years and one month in jail after a judge ruled his recklessness caused the accident that […]

  • UK PM, ex-union leader join forces to fight Brexit

    LONDON, (APP/AFP) – British Prime Minister David Cameron joined forces with a former trade union leader on Thursday in a rare alliance to urge voters to stay in the EU, warning that leaving posed a threat to jobs, wages and prices. The Conservative leader and Brendan Barber, the former head of the Trades Union Congress […]