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 …
Read More »Sudan says ready to work with US to get off terror blacklist
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudan on Thursday welcomed a US announcement that Washington was willing to remove Khartoum from its blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism and said it was ready to cooperate. The US State Department Wednesday said Washington was prepared to “initiate the process of rescinding Sudan’s …
Read More »Samsung folding screen lets smartphone open into tablet
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Samsung on Wednesday showed off a folding screen that lets a smartphone open into a tablet, heralding it as the future for portable devices. Senior vice president of mobile product marketing Justin Denison pulled a prototype foldable smartphone from a suit jacket inner …
Read More »US approves $550 mln aid to boost Senegal electricity
Washington, United States | AFP | The United States on Wednesday announced $550 million in assistance to Senegal to help the fast-growing country meet rising demand for electricity The Millennium Challenge Cooperation, a US government body created in 2004 that awards grants to countries that commit to good governance and …
Read More »White House bars CNN reporter after verbal duel with Trump
Washington, United States | AFP | The White House on Wednesday suspended the press pass of a CNN reporter who sparred with Donald Trump at a news conference, during which the president branded him the “enemy of the people.” A visibly angry Trump called reporter Jim Acosta a “rude, terrible …
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