Caracas, Venezuela | AFP | Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is being squeezed internationally as the United States pressures key multilateral bodies to boot out his “illegitimate” representatives. To publicly underline America’s position and its support of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim leader, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday welcomed …
Read More »US judge recommends partial ban on iPhone imports to US
San Francisco, United States | AFP | A US trade judge ruled Tuesday that Apple had violated a Qualcomm chipmaker patent and said she would recommend banning imports of some iPhones. International Trade Commission administrative law specialist MaryJoan McNamara wrote that she would be recommending a “limited exclusion order together with …
Read More »Trump: today’s airplanes ‘too complex to fly’
Washington, United States | AFP | As investigators probe the latest deadly crash of Boeing’s bestselling airliner, US President Donald Trump weighed in Tuesday with his own explanation: modern planes are too complicated for pilots. “Airplanes are becoming far too complex to fly,” he tweeted, adding that instead of pilots, the planes require “computer scientists …
Read More »N. Korea may be preparing a missile or space launch: NPR
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea may be preparing for a missile or space launch, US news outlet NPR has reported, based on satellite image analysis of a key facility near Pyongyang. NPR said the images of Sanumdong, one of the facilities Pyongyang has used to produce inter-continental ballistic …
Read More »Trump asks for Republican loyalty ahead of border wall vote
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump urged Republican party rebels on Wednesday not to support Democrats voting to scrap his invocation of emergency powers for funding US-Mexico border wall construction. “STAY UNITED!” Trump tweeted ahead of a Senate vote in which four Republicans are expected to break ranks …
Read More »Trump lashes out at ‘crazy’ opponents as pressure mounts
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump branded Democratic opponents “crazy” and guilty of overreach Tuesday in a fevered response to a huge new Democratic-led probe of his alleged crimes. In a searing burst of early morning tweets, the president said the House Judiciary Committee investigation launched Monday was “the greatest overreach in …
Read More »Juan Guaido: the ‘kid’ taking on Venezuela’s Maduro
Caracas, Venezuela | AFP | Juan Guaido proudly calls himself a “survivor,” and he proved just that in defying the threat of arrest to make a triumphant return to Venezuela on Monday. Since stunning the world on January 23 when issuing a direct challenge to Nicolas Maduro’s authority by declaring himself acting president, Guaido has …
Read More »Side-front in Britain’s Brexit drama — the US Congress
Washington, United States | AFP | With Britain deadlocked on negotiating its divorce from the European Union, an unexpected side-front is emerging — the US Congress. Conservatives who pushed the June 2016 referendum that ended in the shock decision to leave the 28-member bloc dangled the prospect of a free trade agreement with the United …
Read More »North Korea in five figures
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | Ahead of the second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, here are five key figures on the reclusive Asian country. – 67 percent – The portion of the workforce employed in the agriculture sector, according to the Food …
Read More »North Korea seeks sweet smell of success ahead of summit
Sinuiju, North Korea | AFP | The manager of North Korea’s Sinuiju Cosmetics Factory clenches her fists when asked about a rival plant in Pyongyang, then bumps them together. “We compete,” Kim Hye Yong says firmly. Throughout the plant, masked workers in white overalls, gloves and hairnets operate machines producing shampoos, …
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