Manchester, United States | AFP | After suffering a drubbing in Iowa and bizarrely conceding he will likely lose New Hampshire’s Democratic primary next Tuesday, Joe Biden is under immense pressure to turn his floundering US presidential campaign around. The popular former US vice president has been the national frontrunner …
Read More »Sanders claims victory as review ordered of Iowa results
Manchester, United States | AFP | Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders joined Pete Buttigieg on Thursday in claiming victory in the chaotic Iowa caucuses as an exasperated party chairman ordered a review of the results of the first nominating contest. Sanders, the leftist senator from Vermont, and Buttigieg, the former …
Read More »US, Nigeria hope to resolve visa row soon
Washington, United States | AFP | The United States and Nigeria voiced hope Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s administration would soon lift onerous visa restrictions slapped on Africa’s most populous country, which said it was “blindsided” by its ally. On a previously scheduled visit to Washington, Nigerian Foreign Minister …
Read More »Sky falls on Iowa after caucus vote debacle
Des Moines, United States | AFP | Iowa is proud of its time-honored role as the first US state to vote when America starts picking presidential candidates. This time it even instituted new rules it said would make things more transparent. But Monday night’s voting could not have gone worse …
Read More »Stranded in Wuhan: foreigners raise call for help in virus epicentre
Wuhan, China | AFP | Pregnant, newly wed and now trapped at the Chinese epicentre of a global health crisis, Thai national Aphinya is among thousands of foreigners desperate to escape — and watching helplessly as the US and Japan fly their citizens home. Hundreds were flown to safety this week …
Read More »Now, White House bars Bolton book release over ‘top secret’ material
Washington, United States | AFP | The White House on Wednesday said that former national security advisor John Bolton cannot publish in its current form a book reportedly containing explosive evidence concerning President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial. The National Security Council said after preliminary review of the manuscript — a …
Read More »Iraq weighs larger NATO role to replace US-led coalition
Baghdad, Iraq | AFP | Iraq is considering a larger role for NATO at the expense of the US-led coalition, Iraqi and Western officials told AFP, after an American drone strike on Baghdad that sparked outrage. The January 3 strike which killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani and a top Iraqi commander …
Read More »Trump’s Middle-East peace plan: from idea to reality
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | US President Donald Trump, who has announced his long promised “ultimate deal” for Israeli-Palestinian peace, has since coming to office maintained a staunchly pro-Israel stance. With the new US peace plan rejected in advance by the Palestinians and talks between the two sides stalled …
Read More »France, US agree to extend digital tax row talks
Paris, France | AFP | Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump have agreed to extend negotiations on a dispute over a French tax on digital giants to the end of the year, postponing Washington’s threat of sanctions against Paris, a French diplomatic source said Monday. The source said the French and …
Read More »Huawei exec goes to Canada court to fight US extradition
Vancouver, Canada | AFP | A senior Huawei executive whose arrest in Vancouver led to a breakdown in Canada-China relations headed to court on Monday to fight extradition to the United States. Meng Wanzhou, the company’s chief financial officer and eldest daughter of its founder Ren Zhengfei, is wanted by …
Read More »