San Diego, United States | AFP | San Diego State University psychology professor Jean Twenge sees smartphones and social media as raising an unhappy, compliant “iGen.” QUESTION: What is the iGen? ANSWER: The iGen is the generation born in 1995 and later, and they’re the first generation to spend their …
Read More »Trump in Paris slams Macron’s ‘insulting’ EU army proposals
Paris, France | AFP | US President Donald Trump on Friday blasted calls by Emmanuel Macron for a European army to defend against threats from powers including the US as “very insulting”, setting a combative tone for his World War I commemorative visit to Paris. No sooner had Trump touched …
Read More »Facebook stops requiring arbitration of sexual harassment claims
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Facebook on Friday said it will no longer require employees to resolve sexual harassment claims via arbitration, mirroring a move by Google. The change of workplace rules at the world’s leading social network will allow complaints of such improprieties to be aired openly …
Read More »Five die in California wildfires, 150,000 forced to flee
Paradise, United States | AFP | Five people were declared dead and 150,000 evacuated Friday as fierce wildfires raged across the western US state of California, with one rapidly spreading blaze threatening the famed resort of Malibu. The victims died in their vehicles trying to escape a massive late-season inferno …
Read More »US names new envoy for Africa’s Great Lakes
Washington, United States | AFP | Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday named a scholar who once called for the disintegration of the Democratic Republic of Congo as the new US envoy to Africa’s Great Lakes region, tasked with encouraging stability in the conflict-ridden area. J. Peter Pham, now …
Read More »Michelle Obama slams Trump in new book
Washington, United States | AFP | Former US first lady Michelle Obama says she can “never forgive” Donald Trump for questioning her husband’s American citizenship, saying the president and other “birthers” put her family at risk, in her hotly anticipated new memoir. Obama also says she was surprised that so …
Read More »US delays UN approval of aid for North Korea
United Nations, United States | AFP | The United States is delaying approval of several requests for sanctions exemptions to deliver tractors, spare parts and other goods needed for humanitarian relief in North Korea, according to documents seen by AFP on Thursday. Russia asked the Security Council to discuss the …
Read More »Trump to snub Macron’s ‘Peace Forum’ on Armistice weekend
Paris, France | AFP | US President Donald Trump is set to snub a peace conference organised by French President Emmanuel Macron this weekend as part of World War I commemorations in Paris, organisers said Thursday. Trump is due in the French capital along with around 70 other leaders for …
Read More »Judge denies El Chapo-wife embrace, deems too risky
New York, United States | AFP | The US judge overseeing the New York trial of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman ruled Thursday that the notorious drug baron could not hug his beauty queen wife, as requested, just before opening statements are to begin. Guzman has been held in solitary confinement …
Read More »Google outlines steps to tackle workplace harassment
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Google on Thursday outlined changes to its handling of sexual misconduct complaints, hoping to calm outrage that triggered a worldwide walkout of workers last week. “We recognize that we have not always gotten everything right in the past and we are sincerely sorry …
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