Australian tax chief faces fraud inquiry

SYDNEY - One of Australia's top anti-fraud tax officials faces charges after his son and eight friends were arrested in raids that netted cash, luxury cars, two small planes, guns and vintage wine in a $123 million tax fraud, police said on Thursday.

Macron's centrist party stretches lead

PARIS - French President Emmanuel Macron's new centrist party has stretched its lead in the polls ahead of parliamentary elections next month, new survey data showed on Thursday, adding to the positive momentum for the 39-year-old leader.

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Mako's choice of commoner sparks debate

TOKYO - Japanese Princess Mako, the eldest granddaughter of Emperor Akihito, will wed a former college classmate, Japanese media reported, heating up debate on the ever-shrinking royal family since she must become a commoner after marriage.

DNA tests identify victim of ferry sinking

SEOUL - DNA testing on a bone found in waters where a sunken ferry was recently raised has identified one of the nine missing passengers from the 2014 disaster that killed more than 300 people, South Korean officials said on Wednesday.

White House denies new revelations

WASHINGTON - The White House on Tuesday pushed back against a new wave of media allegations that US President Donald Trump might have tried to obstruct justice by asking then FBI director James Comey to end a probe into former national security adviser Michael Flynn.

US, Turkish leaders put best face on ties

WASHINGTON - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told US President Donald Trump on Tuesday his country would not accept Syrian Kurdish fighters in the region but stopped short of directly criticizing a US decision to arm them.

General strike disrupts services across Greece

ATHENS - Greek workers walked off the job on Wednesday in an anti-austerity general strike, disrupting public and private sector services across the country.

Group linked to NSA spy leaks threatens sale of cyber secrets

FRANKFURT - A group that took credit for leaking NSA cyberspying tools - including ones used in the WannaCry global ransomware attack - has said it plans to sell code that can be used to hack into the world's most used computers, software and phones.

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Cyberattack thrusts focus on spy agency

WASHINGTON - An unprecedented global cyberattack that infected computers in at least 150 countries beginning on Friday has unleashed a new wave of criticism of the US National Security Agency.

White House denies Trump disclosed sensitive material

WASHINGTON - The White House on Monday strongly denied media reports accusing President Donald Trump of revealing highly classified intelligence information to Russia during an Oval Office meeting last week.