A coordinated double suicide bombing hit central Kabul on Monday morning, killing 25 people, including an AFP photographer and a cameraman for a local TV station, the Afghan police said.
At least 45 people were wounded in the twin attacks, according to Kabul police spokesman, Hashmat Stanekzai, who also added that four policemen were among those killed.
The attack was the latest in a relentless string of deadly large-scale bombings and assaults that have struck in Kabul and elsewhere in Afghanistan so far this year.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for today's attack, but both Taliban and Islamic State group are active and have repeatedly claimed attacks in Kabul.
The suicide blasts took place in the central Shash Darak area, which is home to the NATO headquarters and a number of embassies in Afghanistan.
Stanekzai, the police spokesman, said the first suicide bomber was on a motor bike. The second explosion was meant to hit those rushing to the scene of the attack to help ...

Double Kabul suicide bombing kills 25, including journalists

PTI Automatic

The presidential news conference, a time-honored tradition going back generations, appears to be no longer.
More than a year has passed since President Donald Trump held the only solo news conference of his administration  a rollicking, hastily arranged, 77-minute free-for-all during which he railed against the media, defended his fired national security adviser and insisted nobody who advised his campaign had had contacts with Russia.
But there are no signs the White House press shop is interested in a second go-round. Instead, the president engages the press in more informal settings that aides say offer reporters far more access, more often, than past administrations.
"President Trump is more accessible than most modern presidents and frequently takes questions from the press," says White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
The president often answers shouted questions at so-called pool sprays, in which a small group of rotating reporters is given access to events such as 

In Trump era, the death of the White House press conference

South Korea will remove propaganda-broadcasting loudspeakers from the border with North Korea this week, officials said today, as the rivals move to follow through with their leaders' summit declaration that produced reconciliation steps without a breakthrough in the nuclear standoff.
During their historic meeting Friday at a Korean border village, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreed to end hostile acts against each other along their tense border, establish a liaison office and resume reunions of separated families.
They also agreed to achieve a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula, but failed to produce specific time frames and disarmament steps.
Seoul's Defense Ministry said it would pull back dozens of its front-line loudspeakers on Tuesday before media cameras. Ministry spokeswoman Choi
Hyunsoo Seoul expects Pyongyang to do the same.  South Korea had already turned off its loudspeakers ahead of Friday's summit talks, and North Korea responded by .

South Korea to remove propaganda loudspeakers at border

A landslide in northern China's Shanxi province has killed three people after a total of nine were buried underneath the falling earth.
More than a hundred firefighters, rescue workers and medical staff have been sent to the scene, the Luliang municipal government said on its official social media account today.
The landslide hit shortly before 5 a.m., and rescue efforts are underway for those who remain trapped.
The mountainous Luliang prefecture has been hit by a number of landslides over the years, including one in 2008 that killed 19 people. There was no immediate word on the cause of today's landslide or the identities of the deceased.

Landslide in China kills 3, rescue underway for trapped

Double explosions targeted central Kabul today morning, killing at least six people, including a journalist, and wounding 14, authorities said.
Five people were killed by the initial blast and 11 wounded, according to Mohammad Asim, chief of the Kabul ambulance service.
The first explosion was soon followed by another. Police officer Jan Agha said the journalist died in the second blast, which also wounded two police officers.
Kabul chief of police Dawood Amin says the area of Kabul that was targeted includes foreign offices.
Mohammad Mousa Zahir, director of Wazir Akbarkhan Hospital, said several people suffering injuries from the blast were being treated at the hospital.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The local Islamic State group affiliate and the more firmly established Taliban carry out regular attacks around the country, with the Taliban usually targeting the government and security forces and IS targeting the Shiite minority.
Both groups want to ...

Explosions kill at least 6, including journalist, in Kabul

South Korea says it will remove propaganda-broadcasting loudspeakers from the border with North Korea.
The announcement came three days after the leaders of the two Koreas agreed to work together to achieve a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and end hostile acts against each other along their border during their rare summit talks.
Seoul's Defense Ministry said today it will pull back dozens of its frontline loudspeakers tomorrow.
It says Seoul expects Pyongyang to do the same.
South Korea had turned off its loudspeakers ahead of Friday's summit talks, and North Korea responded by halting its own broadcasts.
Seoul had blasted propaganda messages and K-pop songs from border loudspeakers since the North's fourth nuclear test in early 2016. The North quickly matched the South's action with its own border broadcasts.

S Korea to remove propaganda loudspeakers at shared border

A group of Central Americans who journeyed in a caravan to the US border resolved to turn themselves in and ask for asylum today in a direct challenge to the Trump administration  only to have US immigration officials announce that the San Diego crossing was already at capacity.
Nearly 200 migrants, many travelling with children, had decided to apply for protection at the nation's busiest border crossing after many fled violence in their home countries, organisers said. The caravan got attention after President Donald Trump and members of his Cabinet called it a threat to the United States.
Shortly before the migrants were expected to arrive, US Customs and Border Protection said San Diego's San Ysidro crossing would not immediately be able to handle more asylum seekers. It can hold about 300 people at a time, and officials had been warning that it might fill up.
"At this time, we have reached capacity at the San Ysidro port of entry for CBP officers to be able to bring additional ...

US says crossing is full before caravan tries to seek asylum

Britain's interior minister resigned today amid a scandal over authorities' mistreatment of long-term UK residents wrongly caught up in a government drive to reduce illegal immigration.
Prime Minister There's May's office said that May had accepted the resignation of Home Secretary Amber Rudd.
The scandal has dominated headlines in Britain for days and has sparked intense criticism of the Conservative government's tough immigration policies.
Rudd had been due to make a statement to Parliament today over what has become known as the Windrush scandal.
The furor has grown since the Guardian newspaper reported that some people who came to the UK from the Caribbean in the decades after World War II had recently been refused medical care in Britain or threatened with deportation because they could not produce paperwork proving their right to reside in the country.
Those affected belong to the "Windrush generation," named for the ship Empire Windrush, which in 1948 brought hundreds of ...

UK interior minister quits over growing immigration scandal

Three people have been killed and eight others injured in a house fire in New York City.
The blaze broke out late Saturday night at a two-story home in Queens.
An 82-year-old woman, an 87-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman all were killed in the fire. Eight other people were taken to area hospitals. Three, including an 8-year-old girl, are listed in critical condition.
The other five are hospitalized in stable condition with injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening.
On Sunday morning, three people including two children were hospitalized in critical condition after a blaze broke out in a Harlem apartment building, the Fire Department said.
The causes of the fires remain under investigation.

3 killed, 8 injured in New York City house fire

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told his South Korean counterpart at their historic summit that his country would be willing to give up its nuclear weapons if the US commits to a formal end to the Korean War and a pledge not to attack the North, Seoul officials said today.
Kim also vowed during his meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday to shut down the North's nuclear test site in May and disclose the process to experts and journalists from South Korea and the United States, Seoul's presidential office said.
While there are lingering questions about whether North Korea will ever decide to fully relinquish its nukes as it heads into negotiations with the US, Kim's comments amount to the North's most specific acknowledgement yet that "denuclearization" would constitute surrendering its weapons.
US national security adviser John Bolton reacted coolly to word that Kim would abandon his weapons if the United States pledged not to invade.
Asked on CBS' "Face the Nation" .

Seoul: Kim says he'll give up nukes if US vows not to attack

A fire broke out on Sunday at the building site of the new Egyptian museum - the future site of some of the country's most unique and precious artifacts - but caused no significant damage or injuries, Egypt's Antiquities Ministry said.
Firefighters extinguished the fire, which consumed wooden scaffolding at the construction site of the new Grand Egyptian Museum, located near the famed pyramids of Giza just outside Cairo, the ministry said in a statement.
It said there were no causalities or damage to artifacts in the museum.  Footage circulating on social media showed flames and plumes of thick black smoke rising over the entrance of the museum.
The museum covers about 490,000 square meters (586,120 square yards) and will house some of Egypt's most unique and precious artifacts, including many belonging to the famed boy King Tutankhamun.
In January, Egypt placed the ancient statue of one of its most famous pharaohs, Ramses II, in the entrance hall of the museum.
Egypt hopes the ...

Fire breaks out at building site of new Egyptian museum

Former Bolivian military dictator Luis Garcia Meza, who was serving a 30-year prison sentence, has died. He was 88.
Garcia Meza was admitted to a military hospital in La Paz after suffering a heart attack and could not be resuscitated. A medical report said he died "from possible respiratory failure." The Cossmil military hospital told The Associated Press that the death occurred at 3 a.m. Sunday.
The former army general was imprisoned for murders carried out during his 13 months in office from 1980-1981, but he completed much of his sentence at the hospital where he died.
The military leader led a bloody coup in July 1980 that deposed President Lidia Gueiler as Bolivia was trying to return to democracy after 16 years of dictatorship.

Former military dictator of Bolivia dies

A UN Security Council team visiting Bangladesh promised today to work hard to resolve a crisis involving hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims who have fled to the country to escape military-led violence in neighboring Myanmar.
The diplomats, who visited the sprawling camps and border points where about 700,000 Rohingya have taken shelter, said their visit was an opportunity to see the situation firsthand.
Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Dmitry Polyansky, said he and his fellow team members would not look away from the crisis after their visit, though he warned that there are no simple solutions.
"It's very necessary to come and see everything at place here in Bangladesh and Myanmar. But there is no magic solution, there is no magic stick to solve all these issues," he said at a news conference at the Kutupalong refugee camp in the coastal town of Cox's Bazar.
The diplomats will conclude their three-day visit to Bangladesh on Monday, when they leave for Myanmar.
The ...

UN team, in Bangladesh, vows to work to end Rohingya crisis

Pope Francis has decried an attack on a church in Nigeria that killed 15 people, including two priests.
In remarks today to the public in St. Peter's Square, the pontiff prayed that Nigeria's Christian community can find harmony and peace.
The massacre last week occurred in Benue state in central Nigeria, which has recently seen a series of attacks, many linked to an ongoing dispute between farmers and herdsmen.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has described the attacks on churches as an attempt to stoke religious conflict.

Pope decries attack on church in Nigeria that killed 15

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is using the Middle East leg of his first trip abroad as America's top diplomat to call for concerted international action to punish Iran for its missile programs.
He's also urging Saudi Arabia and its neighbors to resolve a long-festering dispute with Qatar that US officials say Iran is exploiting to boost its influence in the region, including in Yemen and Syria.
Pompeo met today with Saudi King Salman, whose country, along with Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, is embroiled in a row with Qatar that had hobbled Gulf Arab unity and frustrated the US as it seeks to blunt growing Iranian assertiveness.
The ex-CIA chief had arrived in Riyadh a day earlier, shortly after Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen fired missiles at Saudi Arabia's southern city of Jizan, killing one person and underscoring what US officials said is a growing threat emanating from Iran.
Senior US officials traveling with Pompeo blamed Iran for smuggling the missiles ..

Pompeo, in Saudi Arabia, talks tough on Iran, Gulf dispute

Britain's interior minister is promising to ensure the country's immigration policy is "humane" as uproar spreads over authorities' mistreatment of long-term legal residents from the Caribbean.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd, who faced mounting pressure Sunday to resign, says she will speak Monday to the House of Commons about the immigration scandal.
The furor began when the Guardian newspaper reported that some people who came to Britain from the Caribbean in the decades after World War II have been refused medical care or threatened with deportation because they could not produce paperwork to prove their status.
Rudd's position worsened after she said the British government didn't have targets for deporting people - only for a memo to emerge mentioning specific targets for "enforced removals." Rudd says she didn't see the memo.

UK vows 'humane' immigration policy as scandal grows

Pope Francis is hailing what he called the "courageous commitment" undertaken by the leaders of North and South Korea.
Francis told faithful in St. Peter's Square today that he is accompanying "with prayer the positive result" of Friday's summit and praised the leaders' aim to "achieve a path of sincere dialogue for a Korean Peninsula free of nuclear arms."
He prayed that hopes for a peaceful future "won't be disappointed" and that the collaboration can continue for the benefit "of the beloved Korean people and for the entire world."
Today, South Korea's presidential office said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has vowed to shut down the country's nuclear test site in May. But there has been widespread skepticism about whether the North will fully surrender its nuclear weapons.

Pope hails the Koreas' 'courageous commitment'

After more than a year in office, President Donald Trump for the first time is hosting an African president at the White House.
The meeting with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday comes after an uncomfortable start to the Trump administration's approach to the world's second most populous continent.
Security and economic issues top the agenda for the bilateral meeting and working lunch. Nigeria, Africa's most populous country with almost 200 million people, is the largest economy on the continent and the leading crude oil exporter.
Buhari was one of the first two African leaders Trump called after he took power, along with South Africa's president.
Nigeria is also one of Africa's most troubled when it comes to extremism. Extremist group Boko Haram launched a violent insurgency in the northeast nine years ago with the aim of creating an Islamic state, and tens of thousands of people have been killed. Mass abductions of schoolgirls brought Boko Haram international notoriety ..

Trump finally hosts African leader at the White House

Residents in London are being told to beware the white-haired caterpillars that can cause rashes, vomiting and asthma attacks.
The British Forestry Commission says caterpillars that become oak processionary moths have been spotted in and around the British capital since mid-April.
The caterpillars are covered in thousands of hairs containing the protein thaumetopoein, which can cause skin rashes, sore throats, breathing difficulties and eye problems.
People are being warned not to touch the creatures, which are most often found in oak trees - and to keep pets away from them, too.
Officials are treating oak trees with pesticide to try and eliminate the moths, which were accidentally introduced to Britain in 2005 on plants imported from continental Europe.
The Observer newspaper said today that authorities will also set traps for the caterpillars.

Londoners warned of health threat from toxic caterpillars

Passengers at Amsterdam's Schiphol airport are facing long waits after a power outage temporarily knocked out its check-in systems.
The outage that hit parts of Amsterdam today prompted authorities to briefly shut roads and a rail link to the airport on the outskirts of the Dutch capital.
The airport says on its website that check-in systems were restored today, but warned passengers to check the status of their flights for updates. The airport says incoming flights "will be reduced in capacity" from 9-11 a.m. and that several departing flights have been cancelled or delayed.
The Dutch power grid administrator, Tennet, says it is investigating the cause of the outage.

Power outage sparks delays at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport

If President Donald Trump isn't comfortable being the target of jokes, comedian Michelle Wolf gave him and others plenty of reasons to squirm yesterday.
"It's 2018 and I'm a woman, so you cannot shut me up," Wolf cracked, "unless you have Michael Cohen wire me $130,000." No, Trump's personal attorney wasn't there. And, for the second year, Trump himself skipped the annual dinner of the White House Correspondents' Association, preferring to criticize journalists and others during a campaign-style rally near Detroit.
Wolf, the after-dinner entertainment for the White House press corps and their guests, was surprisingly racy for the venue and seemed more at home on HBO than C-SPAN.
After one crass joke drew groans in the Washington Hilton ballroom, she laughed and said, "Yeah, shoulda done more research before you got me to do this." As he did last year, Trump flew to a Republican-friendly district to rally supporters on the same night as the dinner. In Washington Township, Michigan, the 

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