US Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz names Carly Fiorina as running mate
US Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, in a last-ditch bid to slow front-runner Donald Trump's momentum, on Wednesday named former business executive Carly Fiorina to be his vice presidential running mate if he wins the nomination.
After suffering a series of crushing losses to Trump in nominating contests on Tuesday, Cruz praised Fiorina as a principled fighter for conservative values who knew how to create jobs and would be a valuable ally on the campaign trail.
"She is careful. She is measured. She is serious," Cruz said. "She doesn't get rattled."
Abdeslam charged by French court over Paris
A French court on Wednesday charged Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam over his role in the November 2015 carnage that left 130 dead, just hours after his extradition from Belgium.
Abdeslam, a French national of Moroccan origin who grew up in Belgium, is believed to be the last surviving member of a terror squad that hit cafes, a concert hall and the national stadium in Paris on November 13.
More than a month after his capture in Belgium, Abdeslam was brought to France by helicopter early on Wednesday where he was formally placed under arrest before being swept off to the main Paris court, where he spent several hours.
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Ex-US House Speaker gets 15 months for sex abuse
Former US House speaker Dennis Hastert was sentenced to 15 months in prison on Wednesday for paying hush money to quiet a victim who said the former high school wrestling coach abused him as a boy, US media said.
As part of a sentence that also includes two years of supervised release, US District Judge Thomas Durkin in Chicago also recommended that Hastert participate in a treatment program for sex offenders, the reports said.
Just before the sentence was handed down, Hastert admitted for the first time that he sexually abused boys when he taught and coached at Yorkville High School in Illinois from the 1960s to the early 1980s.
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British police chief suspended over Hillsborough disaster
The head of the British police force accused of covering up failings that led to the death of 96 fans at the Hillsborough soccer stadium in 1989 was suspended on Wednesday as lawmakers called for prosecutions.
The suspension of Chief Constable David Crompton of South Yorkshire Police came a day after an inquest jury concluded that the Liverpool fans who died in an overcrowded, fenced-in enclosure at the ground in Sheffield had been unlawfully killed, with police accepting catastrophic mistakes had been made.
"Those responsible must be held to account for 96 unlawful deaths and a 27-year cover-up," Andy Burnham, the opposition Labour Party home affairs spokesman who has long campaigned for "Justice for the 96", told parliament.
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Trump vows 'America First' foreign policy
Republican White House hopeful Donald Trump promised on Wednesday a top-to-bottom overhaul of American foreign policy to put "America First" and make its allies pay up.
In a speech short on specifics that left Washington policy experts scratching their heads, Trump warned that Europe and Asia may have to defend themselves.
He vowed to tear up trade deals, re-tool NATO to oppose migration and "radical Islam" and put US national interests ahead of all other considerations.
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