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    EU Parliament backs opening next round of Brexit talks: president

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    Palestinians have right to east Jerusalem as capital: Saudi king

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    Abbas warns 'no peace or stability' without Jerusalem as Palestinian capital

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    Erdogan urges world to recognise East Jerusalem as 'capital of Palestine'

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    Strikes kill 12 in rebel-run Yemen prison camp: rebel TV

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    Israel a state of 'occupation' and 'terror', Erdogan tells Islamic leaders

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    UN envoy says North Korea agrees on need 'to prevent war'

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    Kim vows to make N.Korea 'world's strongest nuclear power': KCNA

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    US ready for North Korea talks 'without preconditions'

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    Ireland-based Ryanair pilots to strike on December 20

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    World Bank to stop financing oil, gas projects from 2019

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  • Tokyo (AFP) - 12/15/2017 - 00:56

    Japanese business confidence hits 11-year high: survey

  • Moscow (AFP) - 12/14/2017 - 23:54

    Putin, Trump discussed North Korea in phone call: Kremlin

  • Brussels (AFP) - 12/14/2017 - 21:58

    EU leaders say position on Jerusalem 'unchanged': Tusk

  • Brussels (AFP) - 12/14/2017 - 21:02

    Polish PM expects EU to impose rare punishment over rule of law

  • Brussels (AFP) - 12/14/2017 - 20:27

    EU leaders agree to roll over Russia sanctions: Tusk

  • Geneva (AFP) - 12/14/2017 - 19:39

    'Golden opportunity missed' at Syria peace talks: UN mediator

  • Washington (AFP) - 12/14/2017 - 19:21

    US regulator orders rollback of 'net neutrality' rules

  • United Nations (United States) (AFP) - 12/14/2017 - 18:40

    Iran says US evidence on Yemen missiles is 'fabricated'

  • Washington (AFP) - 12/14/2017 - 18:21

    Huthi missile fired at Saudi was 'made in Iran': Haley

  • Geneva (AFP) - 12/14/2017 - 18:13

    UN mediator on Syria 'undermined' by his Putin appeal: Damascus

  • Perpignan (France) (AFP) - 12/14/2017 - 18:02

    Three dead as school bus, train collide in France: police source

  • Brussels (AFP) - 12/14/2017 - 15:57

    May 'disappointed' by UK vote but 'on course to deliver Brexit'

  • Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - 12/14/2017 - 15:04

    ECB expects inflation to hit 1.7% in 2020, still below goal

  • Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - 12/14/2017 - 14:52

    ECB ups eurozone growth forecasts for 2017-2019

  • New York (AFP) - 12/14/2017 - 14:45

    Delta orders 100 Airbus planes in blow to Boeing

  • Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - 12/14/2017 - 13:50

    ECB leaves key interest rates unchanged

  • Moscow (AFP) - 12/14/2017 - 13:40

    Putin says Russians do not want Ukraine-style 'coup'

  • Jerusalem (AFP) - 12/14/2017 - 13:30

    Israel drug giant Teva announces 14,000 job cuts over two years

  • New York (AFP) - 12/14/2017 - 13:14

    Disney says to buy parts of 21st Century Fox for $52.4 bn

  • London (AFP) - 12/14/2017 - 13:12

    Bank of England holds interest rate steady at 0.5%

  • Brussels (AFP) - 12/14/2017 - 12:38

    EU's Tusk says next stage of Brexit talks is 'real test of our unity'

  • Nasiriyah (Iraq) (AFP) - 12/14/2017 - 12:36

    38 executed for 'terrorism' in southern Iraq

  • Moscow (AFP) - 12/14/2017 - 11:51

    Putin says Trump opponents 'made up' Russia vote interference

  • Mogadishu (AFP) - 12/14/2017 - 10:31

    At least 13 police killed by Somalia's Shabaab in academy bombing: officer

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    S. Korea prosecutors seek 25 years for ex-president's friend

  • Yangon (AFP) - 12/14/2017 - 06:50

    6,700 Rohingya killed in first month of Myanmar violence: MSF

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    Casualties as bomber attacks Somalia police academy: officer

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    Ecuador's VP handed 6 years in prison in Odebrecht graft case

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    Paris suspect Abdeslam's lawyer asks for Belgian trial to be postponed: source

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    EU Parliament backs opening next round of Brexit talks: president

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    Palestinians have right to east Jerusalem as capital: Saudi king

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    Kremlin welcomes 'constructive' US position on N. Korea talks

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    Abbas warns 'no peace or stability' without Jerusalem as Palestinian capital

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    Erdogan urges world to recognise East Jerusalem as 'capital of Palestine'

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    Strikes kill 12 in rebel-run Yemen prison camp: rebel TV

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    Israel a state of 'occupation' and 'terror', Erdogan tells Islamic leaders

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    Kim vows to make N.Korea 'world's strongest nuclear power': KCNA

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Four children dead as train collides with bus in southern France

AFP / RAYMOND ROIG Firefighters and police work at the site of an accident in Millas, southern France

At least four children were killed and 20 people injured, seven seriously, on Thursday when a train crashed into a school bus at a level crossing in southern France.

The bus, which was carrying around 20 students from a local secondary school, was struck by the train in Millas about 18 kilometres west (11 miles) of the city of Perpignan, close to the Spanish border in mid-afternoon.

"The bus was very badly hit," the public prosecutor in Perpignan, Jean-Jacques Fagny, said.

The dead and critically injured were all travelling in the bus.

France Bleu regional radio reported that the train ploughed into the rear of the bus. Pictures posted on French media showed the bus had been severed in two.

Around 95 emergency workers, backed by four helicopters, were deployed as part of the rescue effort. The crash site was cordoned off to the media.

- 'War scene' -

AFP / Simon MALFATTO The train crashed into a bus at a level crossing in Millas, near Perpignan in southern France

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, who flew to Millas by helicopter, said the process of identifying the victims was "extremely difficult".

Twenty four people were caught up in the accident, including 20 children aged from 13 to 17, said Philippe.

The prime minister confirmed four deaths and said 11 of the injured were in critical condition with another nine in serious conditions in hospitals in the region.

"The priority at this stage is to be able to give precise information to the families," Philippe said.

Speaking to reporters, local prosecutor Jean-Jacques Fagni said the four dead children had yet to be identified while local governor Philippe Vignes described "a real war scene".

The local L'Independant paper cited one of the rail passengers, named only as Barbara, as saying the impact "was very powerful and we thought the train was going to derail".

The reason for the collision was unclear but an enquiry into "involuntary homicide" was swiftly opened.

A source close to the enquiry said witness questioning was underway and the drivers of the bus and train would be tested for alcohol and drugs.

- 'Vision of horror' -

Robert Olive, mayor of neighbouring Saint-Feliu-d'Amont, Robert Olive, described the scene as a "vision of horror".

"The coach was really cut in two by the train as it passed," he added, speaking of the .

The national railway operator SNCF told AFP that "according to witnesses, the level crossing was working as normal" but that an investigation would be carried out to confirm the cause.

The families of the children rushed to the scene to try to get news of their loves ones, an AFP reporter at the scene witnessed.

President Emmanuel Macron tweeted: "All my thoughts for the victims of this terrible accident involving a school bus, as well as their families. The state is fully mobilised to help them."

Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne and SNCF head Guillaume Pepy were also made their way to the accident site.

"It's a terrible event," Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said, expressing "profound sadness".

The security department for the Pyrenees area, where the collision took place, said the accident involved a train travelling west from Perpignan to the town of Villefranche de Conflent.

A medical-psychological aid centre was set up in Millas.

The accident is the third involving several fatalities on French railways in the past four years.

In 2015, a high-speed TGV train being tested on a stretch of the line between Paris and the eastern city of Strasbourg derailed after hitting a bridge at 243 kilometres-per-hour, killing 11 people onboard.

In 2013, seven people were killed when a commuter train slammed into a station south of Paris. A signalling defect was blamed for that crash.

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Four children dead as train collides with bus in southern France

AFP / RAYMOND ROIG Firefighters and police work at the site of an accident in Millas, southern France

At least four children were killed and 20 people injured, seven seriously, on Thursday when a train crashed into a school bus at a level crossing in southern France.

The bus, which was carrying around 20 students from a local secondary school, was struck by the train in Millas about 18 kilometres west (11 miles) of the city of Perpignan, close to the Spanish border in mid-afternoon.

"The bus was very badly hit," the public prosecutor in Perpignan, Jean-Jacques Fagny, said.

The dead and critically injured were all travelling in the bus.

France Bleu regional radio reported that the train ploughed into the rear of the bus. Pictures posted on French media showed the bus had been severed in two.

Around 95 emergency workers, backed by four helicopters, were deployed as part of the rescue effort. The crash site was cordoned off to the media.

- 'War scene' -

AFP / Simon MALFATTO The train crashed into a bus at a level crossing in Millas, near Perpignan in southern France

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, who flew to Millas by helicopter, said the process of identifying the victims was "extremely difficult".

Twenty four people were caught up in the accident, including 20 children aged from 13 to 17, said Philippe.

The prime minister confirmed four deaths and said 11 of the injured were in critical condition with another nine in serious conditions in hospitals in the region.

"The priority at this stage is to be able to give precise information to the families," Philippe said.

Speaking to reporters, local prosecutor Jean-Jacques Fagni said the four dead children had yet to be identified while local governor Philippe Vignes described "a real war scene".

The local L'Independant paper cited one of the rail passengers, named only as Barbara, as saying the impact "was very powerful and we thought the train was going to derail".

The reason for the collision was unclear but an enquiry into "involuntary homicide" was swiftly opened.

A source close to the enquiry said witness questioning was underway and the drivers of the bus and train would be tested for alcohol and drugs.

- 'Vision of horror' -

Robert Olive, mayor of neighbouring Saint-Feliu-d'Amont, Robert Olive, described the scene as a "vision of horror".

"The coach was really cut in two by the train as it passed," he added, speaking of the .

The national railway operator SNCF told AFP that "according to witnesses, the level crossing was working as normal" but that an investigation would be carried out to confirm the cause.

The families of the children rushed to the scene to try to get news of their loves ones, an AFP reporter at the scene witnessed.

President Emmanuel Macron tweeted: "All my thoughts for the victims of this terrible accident involving a school bus, as well as their families. The state is fully mobilised to help them."

Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne and SNCF head Guillaume Pepy were also made their way to the accident site.

"It's a terrible event," Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said, expressing "profound sadness".

The security department for the Pyrenees area, where the collision took place, said the accident involved a train travelling west from Perpignan to the town of Villefranche de Conflent.

A medical-psychological aid centre was set up in Millas.

The accident is the third involving several fatalities on French railways in the past four years.

In 2015, a high-speed TGV train being tested on a stretch of the line between Paris and the eastern city of Strasbourg derailed after hitting a bridge at 243 kilometres-per-hour, killing 11 people onboard.

In 2013, seven people were killed when a commuter train slammed into a station south of Paris. A signalling defect was blamed for that crash.

hj-pta-hg-chv/pvh/pg/iw

AFP / RAYMOND ROIG Firefighters and police work at the site of an accident in Millas, southern France

At least four children were killed and 20 people injured, seven seriously, on Thursday when a train crashed into a school bus at a level crossing in southern France.

The bus, which was carrying around 20 students from a local secondary school, was struck by the train in Millas about 18 kilometres west (11 miles) of the city of Perpignan, close to the Spanish border in mid-afternoon.

AFP / Simon MALFATTO The train crashed into a bus at a level crossing in Millas, near Perpignan in southern France

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe, who flew to Millas by helicopter, said the process of identifying the victims was "extremely difficult".

Twenty four people were caught up in the accident, including 20 children aged from 13 to 17, said Philippe.

15 Dec 2017

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