AFP, WASHINGTON: A white gunman was on the run yesterday after fatally shooting at least nine worshippers in a historic black church in a southern US city in what police called a hate crime. Churchgoers had gathered for a prayer meeting in the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church on Wednesday…

AFP, MOSCOW: Moscow will extend its embargo on European Union agricultural products but is unlikely to go further if the EU extends sanctions as expected, economy minister Alexei Ulyukayev said yesterday. “We'll just keep the status quo the embargo on produce introduced in response to the…

AFP, HONG KONG: Hong Kong lawmakers yesterday rejected a Beijing-backed electoral reform package derided as "fake democracy" during mass protests last year, leaving the city in deadlock over how its leader should be chosen. The government's electoral roadmap would have given all residents…

16 held for Israel church arson AFP, TABGHA: A suspected arson attack damaged a revered Christian shrine in northern Israel overnight, and police detained 16 young Jewish settlers for questioning yesterday. The Church of the Multiplication at Tabgha on the shores of the Sea of Galilee is where many…

AFP, THE HAGUE: Global police have seized "huge amounts" of wildlife contraband, including 12 tonnes of ivory, rhino horn and whale bones, in a massive operation across 62 countries, Europol said in a statement yesterday. "Operation COBRA III, the biggest ever coordinated international…

AFP, GORKHA, Nepal:For the villagers of Sirdibas in Nepal, one of hundreds of isolated mountain communities dotting the vast Himalayan region, a trip to the nearest market meant a difficult three-day journey by donkey even before the recent 7.8-magnitude earthquake. Since the quake struck on April 25,…

AFP, BRUSSELS: European royals and diplomats gathered in Belgium yesterday to mark the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, a turning point for the continent which still touches a nerve and stirs national passions. The stress was on modern-day reconciliation and the sacrifice of some 47,000…