Bloomberg Altos Hornos de Mexico SA, the steelmaker known as Ahmsa, is exiting the bankruptcy process in Mexico after 17 years of court protection. A Mexican judge ordered the company’s suspension-of-payments proceedings to be lifted and approved a plan for creditors, effective immediately, the company said in a statement Monday. The court-approved exit calls for Ahmsa to repay $1.7 ...
Read More »World, regional powers meet to save Syria peace efforts
Vienna / AFP Senior envoys from world and regional powers gathered once again in Vienna on Tuesday in an effort to salvage stumbling efforts to halt Syria’s civil war. US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov—diplomacy’s odd couple, at loggerheads over much else in the world—are chairing the meeting, which began shortly after 0700 GMT. ...
Read More »Australia arrests teen for plotting terror attack
SYDNEY / AP A teenager was arrested on Tuesday after Australian police alleged he had been planning to launch a terrorist attack in Sydney. The 18-year-old was expected to be charged with planning a terrorist attack, the Australian Federal Police said. They said another charge — preparing to enter a foreign country to engage in hostile activities — was ...
Read More »Nepal frees Briton arrested over anti-charter protest
Kathmandu / AFP Nepal on Tuesday released a British tourist arrested for allegedly joining a protest against the country’s new constitution, days after a Canadian’s visa was revoked over his political tweets. Hundreds of demonstrators from ethnic minorities have been protesting in Kathmandu since Sunday, calling for changes to the divisive new charter which they say leaves them politically ...
Read More »Car bomb kills 39 in Baghdad market
BAGHDAD / AP A car bomb ripped through an outdoor market in a Shiite-dominated Baghdad neighborhood on Tuesday, killing at least 39 people, officials said, the latest in a wave of deadly militant attacks far from the front lines in the country’s north and west where Iraqi forces are battling the IS group. No one immediately claimed responsibility for ...
Read More »Turkey begins debating hotly-contested immunity bill
Ankara /Â AP The Turkish parliament on Tuesday began debating a hugely controversial bill that would strip dozens of deputies of their parliamentary immunity and which pro-Kurdish deputies say is directly aimed at driving them out of the legislature. The debates, which could prove fiery, are to begin at around midday GMT in the main chamber, with a final vote ...
Read More »S Korea military seeks to scrap draft exemptions
Seoul / AFP South Korea’s defence ministry said on Tuesday it was pushing to scrap nearly all existing exemptions to mandatory military service, citing a shortfall in the number of conscripts. Some 28,000 able-bodied men are exempted every year, either because of the nature of their academic studies, or because they opt to serve their time in the police ...
Read More »US warns citizens against travel to N Korea
Washington / AFP The State Department has urged Americans to avoid all travel to North Korea, warning that US citizens making the trip risk long and “unduly harsh” imprisonment if they fall foul of laws in the hermit state. At least 14 US citizens have been detained by Pyongyang over the past decade, according to Washington. “The State Department ...
Read More »Clinton woos blue-collar voters in Kentucky, raps Donald Trump
Hopkinsville / AFP Presidential primaries in Oregon and Kentucky on Tuesday were likely to avail Hillary Clinton a chance to bolster her almost insurmountable delegate lead over Democratic rival Bernie Sanders, who has vowed to slog on despite long odds. Sanders is gunning for victory in the Bluegrass State, building on his win last week in neighboring West Virginia ...
Read More »Boris Johnson crossed line with Hitler reference: Tusk
Copenhagen / AFP European Council President Donald Tusk on Tuesday criticised the former conservative mayor of London Boris Johnson for having “crossed boundaries†by saying the European Union was behaving like Adolf Hitler. “I cannot stay silent,†Tusk told reporters in Copenhagen. Johnson, a leading campaigner for Britain to leave the EU, had “crossed boundaries†of acceptable political debate, Tusk ...
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