Paris, France | AFP | NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg will on Thursday confront Emmanuel Macron in Paris over the French president’s claim the alliance is suffering “brain death”, a charge that has set the stage for a testy NATO summit next week. Macron delivered his damning assessment in an interview earlier …
Read More »Labour accuses UK PM of plot to ‘sell’ NHS to Trump
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Britain’s main opposition Labour party on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson of plotting a “toxic” deal with President Donald Trump to allow US pharmaceutical companies access to the state health service. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn held up what he claimed were 451 pages of …
Read More »Five years after sanctions, Russian cheeses getting top marks
Korolyov, Russia | AFP | Elvira Kovtun made her first cheese in a pot in her kitchen four years ago. Kovtun, a housewife and mostly self-taught cheesemaker, became so good that she and her husband decided to turn her passion into a business. Last month, the high-school sweethearts and parents of …
Read More »Trump says will designate Mexican cartels as ‘terror’ groups
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump said in an interview posted online Tuesday that he planned to designate Mexican drug cartels as terror groups. The move comes after Trump called for a “war” on the cartels in early November when nine women and children from a Mormon …
Read More »Thousands rally worldwide against abuse of women
Paris, France | AFP | Tens of thousands have rallied across the world to mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, as France unveiled new measures to combat domestic violence. Demonstrators on Monday gathered in countries as diverse as Guatemala, Russia, Sudan and Turkey, where riot police …
Read More »At Instagram hotspot, LOLs trump likes
Cologne, Germany | AFP | Crammed into a supermarket trolley, Kiki Malliora squealed with laughter as she rolled past her sister at Cologne’s pop-up selfie museum, where visitors said having fun outweighs the hunt for “likes” in a changing social media landscape. “Sure, the setting is fake,” said the 38-year-old office …
Read More »Nine-year-old Belgian wonder kid set for university degree
Amsterdam, Netherlands | AFP | Like many other nine-year-olds, Laurent Simons likes TV and his pet dog. But he also wants to make artificial organs, and is about to get the qualifications to set him on his way. The Belgian boy will in December receive a degree in electrical engineering …
Read More »Bloomberg steps into US presidential race
New York, United States | AFP | Michael Bloomberg confirmed Sunday that he is running for president, joining the crowded field of Democrats seeking to take on his fellow New York billionaire, President Donald Trump. His 11th-hour entry highlights the fluid nature of the Democratic contest just three months before …
Read More »At Trump impeachment hearings, ‘American Dream’ looms large
Washington, United States | AFP | As impeachment hearings play out in Washington, high-level officials, many of them immigrants or children of immigrants, who have testified before Congress are being forced to defend their loyalty to the United States. Ukrainian-born Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, a National Security Council expert, rebuffed attacks …
Read More »In Hiroshima, Pope Francis assails ‘crime’ of nuclear weapons
Nagasaki, Japan | AFP | Pope Francis Sunday described the use of nuclear bombs as “a crime”, as he took his appeal for an end to atomic weapons to Hiroshima in an emotional meeting with survivors. The visit came hours after a highly symbolic stop in the city of Nagasaki, …
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