PARIS (AFP) - The referee who kicked a player during a French Ligue 1 game and then sent him off has been suspended "until further notice", the French Football Federation said on Monday.   Tony Chapron kicked Diego Carlos of Nantes towards the end of Sunday's game against Paris Saint-Germain after being knocked over when the pair collided in a bizarre incident.   Chapron then showed the player a second yellow card.(Yonhap-EPA)  The FFF's technical committee of referees said Chapron had been "wit

Sports Jan. 15, 2018

Spain is expected to replace the United States as the world's second tourism destination while France has retained the top spot, the UN World Tourism Organization said Monday."It is expected" that Spain will take the second position with some 82 million visitors last year, UNWTO chief Zurab Pololikashvili told reporters, adding however that definitive figures would be published in the spring.He did not give any details about the United States, nor did he explain why Spain took the second spot de

World Jan. 15, 2018

Authorities faced anger and demands for answers Sunday after a false alarm about an incoming ballistic missile caused panic in Hawaii, a Pacific archipelago already on edge over fears of a North Korean attack.The notification was sent out just after 8:00 am (1800 GMT) on Saturday, lighting up phones with a disturbing alert urging people to "seek immediate shelter."Emergency management officials later admitted "the wrong button was pushed" during a shift change. But it took nearly 40 minutes for

World News Jan. 14, 2018

 A South Korean has been arrested for the suspected murder of his wife and child on Sunday at the luxury Ritz-Carlton hotel on Hong Kong's harbourfront, officials said.Police rushed to the hotel after receiving a report on Sunday morning that a man and a woman were fighting.The woman and a young boy were found dead at the scene while the man was arrested on suspicion of murder and taken to hospital, police said.Police did not confirm the relationship between the three but told AFP they were all

Social Affairs Jan. 14, 2018

LAUSANNE - Officials from North and South Korea will meet at the International Olympic Committee's headquarters on January 20 to hammer out the details of the North's participation at next month's Winter Games, the IOC said Wednesday. "The participants will be a delegation from the PyeongChang 2018 Organising Committee and delegations from the (Olympic committees) of the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea), all led by their respective presidents, as well

North Korea Jan. 11, 2018

South Korea on Tuesday proposed holding reunions during next month's Winter Olympics for families divided by the 1950-53 Korean War, as the two sides held their first official talks in more than two years. (Yonhap)The issue is one of the most emotive legacies of the conflict and the South urged that the meetings be held at the Lunar New Year, which falls in the middle of the Pyeongchang Games, the South's vice unification minister Chun Hae-Sung told journalists. (AFP)

North Korea Jan. 9, 2018

Intel chief Brian Krzanich said Monday the impact of a recently discovered vulnerability in computer chips has been limited due to "remarkable" collaboration by the tech industry.Krzanich took the unusual step of addressing the security issue as he delivered a keynote ahead of the opening of the huge Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, an industry event expected to draw some 180,000 people from the sector. Intel chief Brian Krzanich (AFP)As yet, Krzanich said, there is no information to sugg

Technology Jan. 9, 2018

A high-level South Korean delegation left Tuesday for rare talks with North Korea after months of tensions over the North's nuclear weapons programme, with Seoul's chief delegate vowing to work towards improving long-strained ties.The talks come after the North's leader Kim Jong-un indicated in his New Year's speech that Pyongyang was willing to send a delegation to the Winter Olympics in the South.Seoul responded with an offer of a high-level dialogue, and last week the hotline between the neig

North Korea Jan. 9, 2018

The leaders of Turkey and Bulgaria on Sunday reopened the Bulgarian St Stephen's Church in Istanbul after seven years of restoration,  a gesture of harmony in an often turbulent relationship between the two neighbours.The Bulgarian Orthodox church in Balat, a historic Istanbul neighbourhood on the shores of the Golden Horn traditionally home to Christians and Jews, was built in 1898 after its original wooden structure was destroyed in a fire. Made out of cast iron, the iconic ornate building has

World News Jan. 7, 2018

Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced optimism as she opened talks Sunday with Germany's second biggest party on renewing their alliance, in a new attempt at shaking Europe's biggest economy out of paralysis after September's inconclusive elections.The week of meetings between Merkel's conservative alliance and the Social Democrats (SPD) will examine whether both sides have enough common ground to begin formal coalition negotiations towards a new government by March or April."I am going into these tal

World News Jan. 7, 2018

CAMP DAVID -- US President Donald Trump said Saturday he would be willing to speak directly with Kim Jong-un, voicing hope that rare talks between North and South Korea could help deescalate the crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear drive.Trump's remarks were a further pivot from his often-bellicose rhetoric on North Korea and Kim, with whom he has engaged in a war of words that raised fears of nuclear war as Pyongyang carried out missile and nuclear tests."I always believe in talking," Trump said at

Foreign Affairs Jan. 7, 2018

STOCKHOLM (AFP) -- Danish police are investigating the theft of what is claimed to be "the world's most expensive" bottle of vodka, in what the bar owner says could be an inside job.The bottle, made from white and yellow gold and containing a diamond-encrusted replica of the Russian Imperial Eagle on its cap, is said to be worth $1.3 million (one million euro).A CCTV recording sent to AFP shows a masked man grabbing the Russo-Baltique vodka and fleeing Cafe 33 bar in Copenhagan early on Tuesday.

World Jan. 4, 2018

WARSAW, Poland -- Around 400 North Koreans are still working in Poland but the EU member has not issued any new work permits since August last year in compliance with a UN resolution, the Polish labor minister said Wednesday.New UN sanctions passed against North Korea last month ban the supply of nearly 75 percent of refined oil products to Pyongyang, cap crude deliveries and order all North Koreans working abroad to be sent back by the end of 2019.  (AP)“Since Aug. 5, 2017, Poland has issued no

North Korea Jan. 4, 2018