Washington, United States | AFP | Osama bin Laden’s son Hamza, chosen heir to the leadership of Al-Qaeda, has been killed, US media reported Wednesday citing American officials. NBC News said three US officials had confirmed they had information of Hamza bin Laden’s death, but gave no details of the place …
Read More »America’s racial legacy front and center in 2020 campaign
Washington, United States | AFP | When Barack Obama was elected as America’s first black president in 2008, many believed it was a watershed moment for a country bearing the scars of slavery. Just over a decade later, as the 2020 presidential campaign heats up, the divisive issue of race …
Read More »Trump nominee sparks worries of intelligence politicization
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump’s choice of a lawmaker with limited experience to oversee the massive US intelligence community has sparked concerns over the possible politicization of crucial national security decisions. Trump announced the nomination Sunday of Republican Representative John Ratcliffe to replace Dan Coats as Director …
Read More »Amid charges of racism, Trump attacks black rights activist
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump branded African-American civil rights activist Al Sharpton a “con man” on Monday, sparking further charges of racism following his recent tirades against prominent black lawmakers. The attack followed a weekend during which Trump drew fire for targeting Elijah Cummings, a Democratic …
Read More »Merkel says Trump tweets ‘go against what makes America great’
Berlin, Germany | AFP | German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday condemned President Donald Trump’s xenophobic tweets against four minority Democratic congresswomen, saying the US leader’s attacks “go against what makes America great”. “I firmly distance myself from (the attacks) and I feel solidarity towards” the women, she told journalists. “In …
Read More »Eyeing 2020 vote, Trump doubles down on xenophobic tweets
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump, shrugging off criticism from Democrats and even some members of his Republican Party, stepped up his extraordinary attack on four progressive Democratic congresswomen on Monday, saying if they’re not happy in the United States, “they can leave.” “All they do is …
Read More »Trump, producer-president, makes July 4th his own show
Washington, United States | AFP | Tanks in the heart of Washington, fighter jets screaming overhead, and a speech from the Lincoln Memorial: President Donald Trump is promising the “show of a lifetime” as he prepares to turn the Fourth of July into a personal primetime extravaganza. The commander-in-chief and erstwhile …
Read More »Trump move to ease Huawei sanctions sparks anger, confusion
Washington, United States | AFP | The US trade war truce with China which could ease sanctions on Huawei has prompted a backlash from lawmakers over national security concerns amid confusion over how the deal may impact the Chinese tech giant. In the weekend agreement with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping …
Read More »North Korea hails ‘historic’ Kim-Trump summit
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea on Monday hailed the weekend meeting between leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump in the Demilitarized Zone as “historic”, as analysts said Pyongyang was looking to shape the narrative to its own agenda. The two leaders agreed to “resume and …
Read More »‘Say hello’: Trump invites Kim to DMZ meeting
Osaka, Japan | AFP | US President Donald Trump on Saturday invited North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to meet for a historic handshake at the demilitarised zone that divides the Korean peninsula, and said he would have “no problem” stepping over the border. The invitation issued on Twitter caught observers …
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