Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Washington’s top diplomat began his first Africa tour Thursday by meeting with the African Union chief, who said the continent had moved on from a reported insult by President Donald Trump. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and AU commission chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat discussed security …
Read More »US, Israel forces ready for evolving threats with major drill
Hatzor Air Base, Israel | AFP | US and Israeli commanders overseeing a major joint air defence exercise spoke Thursday of preparing for evolving threats in the Middle East during the month-long drill. The Juniper Cobra exercise, held every two years since 2001, comes as Israel is increasingly concerned by …
Read More »Florida passes bill to restrict guns, arm some teachers
Miami, United States | AFP | The US state of Florida, scene of America’s latest school shooting, on Wednesday passed bill that raises the minimum age to buy firearms to 21 while funding a program that allows some teachers and school employees to be armed. The “Marjory Stoneman Douglas High …
Read More »US Ambassador cautions Uganda on transparency in investment procedures
Kampala, Uganda | GODFREY SSALI | The US Ambassador to Uganda Deborah Malac has cautioned Uganda on the bureaucracies and red tape in investment procedures saying they discourage many potential investors. Malac said this during a meeting with the Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives Amelia Kyambadde to discuss trade …
Read More »Trump denies porn star affair allegation: White House
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump denies allegations he had an affair with a porn star more than a decade ago and paid for her silence, the White House said Wednesday. “The president has denied the allegations against him,” press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters. “The president …
Read More »IMF chief warns trade war will harm global growth
Paris, France | AFP | The head of the International Monetary Fund warned Wednesday that a trade war US President Donald Trump apparently intends to provoke with tariffs on steel and aluminium would snuff out global growth. “If international trade is called into question by these types of measures, it …
Read More »US finds North Korea killed Kim brother with VX agent
Washington, United States | AFP | The United States formally concluded Tuesday that North Korea murdered Kim Jong Un’s half-brother with the banned VX nerve agent, blasting Pyongyang for deploying a chemical weapon in a packed international airport. Kim Jong Nam died in February last year, shortly after two women …
Read More »S. Korea’s Moon: ‘too early to be optimistic’ on North
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | South Korean President Moon Jae-in sounded a note of caution Wednesday over the North’s offer of denuclearisation talks, saying it was “too early to be optimistic”, even as US leader Donald Trump welcomed the development. President Trump welcomed Pyongyang’s breakthrough declaration — as relayed …
Read More »Tillerson heads to Africa, with China in his sights
Washington, United States | AFP | Washington’s top diplomat set off for Africa on Tuesday to tour countries that form a new theater for competition with America’s ambitious great power rival China. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s trip to Ethiopia, Kenya, Djibouti, Chad and Nigeria will take him to new …
Read More »Under scrutiny at home, Netanyahu cheered at US pro-Israel lobby
Washington, United States | AFP | Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu put aside his domestic legal woes on Tuesday to find a warm welcome in Washington at a meeting of the pro-Israeli lobby. On the home front the veteran Israeli right-winger faces an intensifying corruption probe that could see the 68-year-old forced …
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