Beijing, China | AFP | China’s economy showed further signs of strain on Thursday with data showing a sharp slowdown in consumer spending and factory production, while investment growth hit a record low as the trade war with the US takes its toll. The readings are the latest to give a …
Read More »Brexit will make Britain ‘second-rate player’: EU’s Tusk
Brussels, Belgium | AFP | Britain will be a “second-rate player” after Brexit, unable to compete with big powers like the US, China and EU, outgoing EU Council president Donald Tusk warned Wednesday. The former Polish premier said Brexit supporters were deluded if they thought leaving the EU would bring a …
Read More »Trump will not impose tariffs on EU cars: Juncker
Munich, Germany | AFP | The outgoing president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said Friday he believes the US will not impose new tariffs on imported European cars in the coming days. President Donald Trump’s administration has been threatening since last year to impose tariffs on auto imports to defend …
Read More »Trump says talks on controversial Nile dam ‘went well’
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he had hosted successful talks in the White House with representatives of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan on a controversial dam being built on the Nile. Trump was mediating in a dispute over Ethiopia’s construction of the huge …
Read More »Is it a rebuke for Donald Trump in races seen as barometers for 2020 election?
Washington, United States | AFP | Democrats celebrated Wednesday after marquee election wins in two US states — including an upset in a Republican stronghold — seen as tests of President Donald Trump’s political standing ahead of the 2020 elections. In a sign of trouble for Trump, Democratic challenger …
Read More »ISIS leader Al Bakr Baghdadi dead
World leaders hailed the killing of ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as an important step in the fight against terrorism but added that the war against ISIS was far from over. | THE INDEPENDENT | al-Baghdadi killed himself along with his three children when he was cornered in a tunnel in …
Read More »Google parent Alphabet profits slip amid bigger research investments
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Google parent Alphabet on Monday reported a sharp drop in profits over the past quarter as it ramped up spending for the launch of a wide array of new gadgets and services. Profit dipped 23 percent from a year ago to $7.1 billion …
Read More »Democrats change tactics, to hold first US House formal impeachment process vote
Washington, United States | AFP | The US House of Representatives will hold its first formal vote Thursday on the impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, a senior aide said, as Democrats forge ahead with a process that includes public hearings. The move marks a shift in strategy by …
Read More »MAKERERE: Statement from US Mission in Uganda
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The U.S. Mission in Uganda has warned that the reported heavy-handed response by security services to protests against the proposed tuition increases at Makerere University ” is uncalled for, and is a direct affront to the freedoms of assembly, speech and expression guaranteed by Uganda’s constitution.” …
Read More »Islamic State head Baghdadi believed dead after US strike
Washington, United States | AFP | Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was believed to be dead after a US military raid in Syria’s Idlib region, US media reported early Sunday. Baghdadi may have killed himself with a suicide vest as US special operations forces descended, media said citing multiple government …
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