PARIS (AFP) -- French President Francois Hollande on Wednesday threatened to ban demonstrations, the day after violent protests in Paris over labour reforms that the government vowed to push through regardless."At a time when France is hosting the Euro (football tournament), when it is faced with terrorism, demonstrations can no longer be authorised if property and people and public property cannot be safeguarded," Hollande's spokesman Stephane Le Foll told a cabinet meeting.Earlier, a defiant P

PARIS (AFP) -- Drinking very hot coffee and other drinks "probably" causes cancer of the oesophagus, a UN agency said Wednesday, but lifted suspicion from a cup of joe at "normal serving temperatures".For some types of cancer, there were hints that coffee may even be beneficial, said the International Agency for Research on Cancer -- but not if consumed hotter than 65 degrees Celsius.A review of over 1,000 studies concluded that drinking "very hot" beverages was "probably carcinogenic to humans,

OSLO (AFP) -- US Secretary of State John Kerry warned Russia on Wednesday that US patience on the Syria conflict and the issue of President Bashar al-Assad's fate is running out."Russia needs to understand that our patience is not infinite, in fact it is very limited with whether or not Assad is going to be held accountable," Kerry said during a visit to Norway."We also are prepared to hold accountable members of the opposition" who have been involved in continuing violence, he said after a meet

PARIS (AP) -- French police and anti-terrorism investigators have been alerted to the possibility that small groups of extremists have left Syria for France and Belgium with plans to stage attacks.Belgian intelligence services sent a note to French counterparts about the possible groups, and it was sent to police across France on Tuesday, a French security official said Wednesday. French authorities remain "very cautious" about the information because they receive such notes routinely, the offic

BEIRUT (AP) -- An international advocacy group accused the United Nations on Wednesday of not being neutral in the Syrian conflict, claiming that the world body is prioritizing its relationship with the Damascus government over delivering aid to civilians.  The Beirut-based Syria Campaign said in a scathing report that the U.N. has "allowed the Syrian government to direct aid from Damascus almost exclusively into its territories," at the expense of establishing regular aid access to hundreds of

BRUSSELS (AP) -- NATO allies will likely agree next month to extend the Afghanistan training mission and keep troops in all four sections of the country next year, a senior NATO diplomat said Wednesday, leaving the door open for the U.S. to maintain current troops levels if the Obama administration decides it's necessary,Under current plans, the U.S. will cut its troop numbers from 9,800 to 5,500 by the end of 2016. But in the face of a resurgent Taliban, former commanders have urged President B

LILLE, France (AP) -- After an unexpectedly quiet night in Lille, Russian and Slovakian fans are gathering at the Stade Pierre Mauroy for Wednesday afternoon's European Championship match while a legion of English and Welsh supporters are still in town.In the morning hours, dozens of Russian and Slovakian fans were peacefully walking the streets in the Villeneuve d'Ascq area, a 10-minute walk from the stadium. (Yonhap)Security forces were in place, with 15 police vehicles lined up along the dist

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama will meet at the White House Wednesday with the Dalai Lama in a get-together the Chinese government assailed.Obama had been scheduled to travel to Wisconsin to appear at a campaign event with presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. But the event was postponed after Sunday's shooting at an Orlando, Florida, nightclub that left 50 people dead, including the gunman.That created a hole in Obama's schedule, and the White House filled it w

SEOUL/PARIS (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Defense Minister Han Min-koo and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian plan to delve into how they could jointly act to tighten the screws on a defiant North Korea as well as ways to boost bilateral collaboration when they meet for talks on Wednesday, the defense ministry said.The defense ministers are scheduled to hold a meeting from 4:30 p.m. in Paris at the headquarters of the French defense ministry, the first full-length defense ministers' talks bet

BEIJING (Yonhap) -- China's foreign ministry said Wednesday that it has been working to ensure a full implementation of U.N. sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear and missile programs, a day after the country decided to ban exports of more goods that could be used for military purposes by Pyongyang.In line with the latest U.N. resolution to punish North Korea for conducting its fourth nuclear test in January this year, China's commerce ministry announced the decision on Tuesday evening,

INCHEON (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Coast Guard said Wednesday it will request warrants to formally arrest the captains and senior crew members of two Chinese fishing boats that were seized while operating illegally in the neutral waters between two Koreas earlier this week.The country's military police captured the boats in the neutral waters of the Han River estuary on Tuesday and turned them over to the Coast Guard. It was the first time Chinese boats were captured in the area since the South K

ISTANBUL (AFP) -- Turkey has detained a Japanese citizen in the south of the country on suspicion of seeking to cross the border into Syria to join Islamic State jihadists, the Dogan news agency said on Wednesday.The young man aged 24, named as M.M., was detained late on Tuesday in the Nizip district of the southern city of Gaziantep, close to the Syrian border.According to Dogan, he had admitted to wanting to travel to Syria after getting to know an unnamed contact by telephone and then agreein

BRUSSELS (AFP) -- Brussels airport suicide bomber Ibrahim El Bakraoui left a rushed will in a trash can saying he did not know what to do after police were hunting for him, the federal prosecutor said Wednesday.Bakraoui's will said he was "in a rush", I don't know what to do, hunted everywhere, no longer safe" and "I don't want to end up in a cell next to him", Frederic van Leeuw said at a press conference. That appeared to be a reference to Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam, who is reportedl

BRUSSELS (AFP) -- A third man filmed with two suicide bombers at Brussels airport who fled the scene without detonating his device, remains on the run, the federal prosecutor said Wednesday."The third man is on the run; he left his bag with the biggest bomb in it which exploded later because it was so unstable," Frederic Van Leeuw said, referring to the man in a hat and white coat in the CCTV images."This third person remains unidentified and is still being looked for," he said, adding that anot

BRUSSELS (AP) -- The rain has washed away the defiant chalk slogans from the square in front of Brussels' stock exchange, the barriers are gone from many subway stations and trams are back running in the streets.Europe's capital returned to work Wednesday but it isn't business as usual. A platoon of soldiers is now standing guard outside the city's central train station. There's only a trickle of tourists flowing through Brussels' gothic Grand Place and gardeners at Brussels' 18th-century Warand

The World Bank agreed to lend $500 million to China to fund projects that can reduce air pollution in and around Beijing.The projects are tied to renewable energy, pollutant reduction and electric and compressed or liquefied natural gas vehicles in the region around the capital, which also includes Tianjin, Hebei and neighboring areas, the Washington-based lender said in a statement.The loan is part of a broader plan to finance $1.4 billion for such projects over the next six years, with another

BRUSSELS (AFP) -- Brussels airport will remain closed Thursday, its chief executive said, after two bomb attacks claimed by the Islamic State group killed at least 15 people there and wrecked the departure hall."There will be no passenger flights into and out of Brussels airport tomorrow March 24," Arnaud Feist said in a tweet Wednesday as the probe into the attacks continued.The departure hall was completely wrecked, with part of the ceiling collapsing down as passengers waiting to check-in str

BRUSSELS (AP) -- Belgian authorities searched Wednesday for a man pictured at the Brussels airport with two apparent suicide bombers, amid growing suggestions that the bombings of the Brussels airport and subway were the work of the same Islamic State cell that attacked Paris last year.The European Union's capital awoke under guard after 34 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in Tuesday's attacks. The Islamic State group, which was behind the Paris attacks, claimed responsibility for th

NEW YORK (AFP) -- A Dutch-based startup that aims to get readers to make "micropayments" for individual news articles launched in the US market Wednesday with a handful of high-profile media partners.Blendle, the payments platform backed by The New York Times and German publisher Axel Springer, said its service in the US would offer articles from Time Inc., The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post, among others.Readers will pay between 19 and 39 cents for newspaper articles and nine to 49

BRUSSELS (AFP) -- Belgians observed a minute of silence at 1100 GMT on Wednesday in memory of the victims of the Brussels airport and metro bombings, the country's worst-ever terror attacks.Defiant applause broke out after the symbolic display of solidarity from a large crowd at the central Place de la Bourse, where mourners have been holding a vigil since Tuesday evening following the attacks that left around 30 people dead. The mood was sombre at the headquarters of the European Union where Be