WORLD

Narita, Japan | AFP | The new US ambassador to Japan on Thursday reassured the country of an “ironclad” commitment to their security alliance, but urged Tokyo to step up its role in the pact, amid heightened tensions over North Korea’s missile threats. Tokyo remains on alert against potential military provocations …

New Delhi, India | AFP | India approved a $650 million purchase of six attack choppers Thursday from US aviation giant Boeing, officials said, as it boosts its military might amid border tensions with China and Pakistan. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), which approves big-ticket purchases, gave the green light to …

Paris, France | AFP | Ignore the snobs, because most experts agree: a few drops of water enhance the taste of whiskies, from well-rounded blends to peat bombs redolent of smoke, tobacco and leather. The only real question is, why is this true? The answer, a pair of biochemists in Sweden …

Madrid, Spain | AFP |  Football icons and longtime rivals Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo joined Spanish sports stars around the world in expressing their grief after Thursday’s terror attack in Barcelona left 13 people dead. Barcelona’s most famous street Las Ramblas was packed with tourists when a van drove …

Barcelona attack: What we know Barcelona, Spain | AFP |  At least 13 people were killed Thursday when a driver deliberately slammed a van into crowds on Barcelona’s most popular street in what police said was a “terror attack”. The attack, the latest in a wave of vehicle rammings across …

Barcelona, Spain | AFP |   A driver deliberately ploughed a van into pedestrians on one of Spain’s busiest streets on Thursday, wounding a number of people in what police said was a “terrorist attack”. “Huge collision on Las Ramblas in Barcelona by an individual driving a van, many injuries,” a …

Vienna, Austria | AFP |  A 19-month-old boy died in Austria after being left in a hot car by his 17-year-old mother and her boyfriend, police said Thursday. Not wanting to wake him after a long car journey, the couple left the child asleep while they want upstairs for a …

London, United Kingdom | AFP |  Nobel peace laureate Malala Yousafzai, who was shot by the Taliban for advocating education for girls in her native Pakistan, announced Thursday she has won a place to study at Oxford University. “So excited to go to Oxford!!” the 20-year-old posted on Twitter, along …

Seoul, South Korea | AFP | There will be no war on the Korean peninsula, South Korean President Moon Jae-In said Thursday, saying Seoul effectively had a veto over US military action in response to the North’s nuclear and missile programmes. “All South Koreans have worked so hard together to …

Brussels, Belgium | AFP | The Belgian government said Wednesday that it would take legal action to obtain compensation for businesses that lost money over insecticide-tainted eggs that were shipped across the European Union and as far away as Hong Kong. The government pledged the civil action as part of several …