NEWS ANALYSIS

Cologne, Germany | AFP | Urging fans to plunge into a virtual high-res surround sound universe of extraordinary games, Google hopes its cloud-based Stadia platform will take the world by storm on its November launch. The US digital behemoth unveiled details of its nascent streaming video platform at this week’s Gamescom …

Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump threatened his French hosts with taxes on their wines Friday as he headed to a G7 summit in France with a series of parting shots, including another broadside at the Federal Reserve’s chairman. After a day that saw big falls on …

New York, United States | AFP |  A Japanese dream duo of Naomi Osaka and Kei Nishikori could come together for mixed doubles at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. World number one Osaka, the reigning US and Australian Open champion, and Nishikori, the 2014 US Open runner-up ranked seventh in the world, could …

Washington, United States | AFP | The thousands of fires burning in the Amazon don’t look like the major forest fires of Europe or North America — instead, they are fueled mainly by branches, vegetation and other byproducts of deforestation in cleared areas, experts say. The dramatic scale of this year’s …

New York, United States | AFP |  Serena Williams has the US Open spotlight as she chases tennis history, but a host of Grand Slam winners and high-ranked rivals are also taking aim at the title. The 37-year-old American will be the focus of attention when the Flushing Meadows fortnight begins …

Paris, France | AFP |  French winegrowers are on tenterhooks as they wait to see whether Donald Trump will follow through with his repeated threats to raise tariffs on French wine in retaliation for the new GAFA tax. As the leaders of the world’s richest countries gather for the G7 opening …

Manchester, United Kingdom | AFP |  Manchester United’s acquisition of Aaron Wan-Bissaka for £50 million ($61 million) in June raised eyebrows for a right-back with fewer than half a century of senior appearances in a far less pressurised environment at Crystal Palace. But the opening two games of the Premier League …

Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russia will launch the world’s first floating nuclear reactor and send it on an epic journey across the Arctic on Friday, despite environmentalists warning of serious risks to the region. Loaded with nuclear fuel, the Akademik Lomonosov will leave the Arctic port of Murmansk to begin …

Brussels, Belgium | AFP |  Vincent Kompany might have been seen as the saviour when he returned to Anderlecht as player-manager, but early results suggest it will take time for the 33-year-old to make his mark on Belgium’s most successful club. Anderlecht caused a sensation when they announced in May the …

Madrid, Spain | AFP |  Lionel Messi could be ready to play against Real Betis on Sunday and Barcelona could do with him back. In other circumstances, Messi might have left it another week, having missed the whole of pre-season with a calf injury he sustained in his first training session …