UK police issue warning on creepy clowns
LONDON • British police have issued warnings after a spate of creepy clown sightings across the country, mimicking a prank that began in the United States and has spread across the world.
Police have received dozens of reports of "killer clown" sightings where people dressed in clown outfits, sometimes carrying knives, have acted suspiciously or chased people, often young children.
"We believe this to be part of a much larger prank which is sweeping across the US and parts of the UK," said Sergeant Mel Sutherland from Durham Police in northern England.
REUTERS
Britain 'has duty to take in Calais migrant kids'
PARIS • Britain has a "moral duty" to take in hundreds of migrant children from the "Jungle" camp in Calais who are desperate to cross the Channel, France said yesterday, with apparently just days to go until the site is dismantled.
Ahead of talks with his British counterpart, Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told RTL radio there were "several hundred unaccompanied minors in Calais who have family in Britain". The camp, a focal point in France of Europe's migrant crisis, has caused tensions between France and Britain.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Russia to set up naval base in Syrian port
MOSCOW • Russia intends to establish a permanent naval base on the site of an existing facility it leases in the Syrian port of Tartus, Russian Deputy Defence Minister Nikolai Pankov said yesterday, Russian news agencies reported.
His statement is the latest sign that Moscow wants to expand its military footprint in Syria, where it has been helping President Bashar al-Assad fight rebels since last year. Moscow last week deployed S-300 surface-to air missiles to Tartus.
REUTERS
South African students clash with police
JOHANNESBURG • South African police clashed yesterday with student protesters demanding free education at the University of the Witwatersand, which had reopened after demonstrations forced its closure last week.
Demonstrators hurled rocks at security guards. Police fired rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse the crowd at the Johannesburg campus. University tuition fees have become a flashpoint in South Africa, which has struggled to provide education and jobs for many poor black people since the end of apartheid.
REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
