US military tests anti-ICBM system in landmark trial Washington, United States | AFP | The US military successfully fired an interceptor rocket at an intercontinental ballistic missile in a first-of-its-kind test that comes amid concerns over North Korea’s weapons program. Experts launched a ground-based interceptor from Vandenberg Air Force Base, …
Read More »Google linking online and offline worlds in new advertising challenge
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Google is testing a way to tie online ads to brick-and-mortar store purchases, a move whetting marketing appetites while fueling privacy worries. A product currently described as a “store sales measurement solution” was unveiled at a marketing conference this month in San Francisco …
Read More »White House shaken as Russia probe pierces Trump’s inner circle
Washington, United States | AFP | The probe into Russia’s role in the US election pierced the innermost circle of the White House Saturday, with reports that Donald Trump’s son-in-law sought a secret communications line with Moscow — the most damning allegation yet from the scandal. With the president …
Read More »Trump son-in-law sought secret line to Moscow: report
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, made a pre-inauguration proposal to the Russian ambassador to set up a secret, bug-proof communications line with the Kremlin, the Washington Post reported Friday evening. Kushner, then and now a close adviser to Trump, went so far as to …
Read More »HANDSHAKE: Macron unshaken by Trump power grip
Brussels, Belgium | AFP | Diplomacy can be a white-knuckle ride at times, but French President Emmanuel Macron refused to be shaken when he found himself in an unexpected standoff with US counterpart Donald Trump Thursday. Former reality TV star Trump is known to make visitors flinch with a strong …
Read More »13 years after quitting, Zuckerberg gets Harvard ‘degree’
Washington, United States | AFP | Thirteen years after dropping out of Harvard University to work on Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday finally got his degree — well, sort of. Zuckerberg returned to the university where he launched what would become the world’s biggest social network, and basked in the …
Read More »Trump commits $300 million to fight Africa famine
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | US President Donald Trump told Pope Francis on Wednesday he was committing more than $300 million (270 million euros) to help prevent or tackle famine in Yemen and several countries in Africa. Trump, meeting the pontiff for the first time, said he …
Read More »‘What do you feed him on? Potica?’ Pope Francis asked Melania
Pope risks joke about Trump’s size Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | It could have caused a diplomatic incident but a culinary quip from Pope Francis seemed to have gone down well with Donald Trump and his wife Melania. In one of the lighter moments of his meeting with …
Read More »All smiles, in public at least, as Trump meets Pope Francis
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | US President Donald Trump met Pope Francis at the Vatican on Wednesday in a keenly-anticipated face-to-face encounter between two world leaders who have clashed repeatedly. The private audience with the pontiff, which lasted just under half an hour, was preceded by a handshake …
Read More »Trump calls N. Korea’s Kim Jong-Un ‘madman with nuclear weapons’
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump called North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un a “madman with nuclear weapons” during a telephone call with Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, according to a transcript of the conversation released by US media Tuesday. A White House readout of the April 29 call …
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