Washington, United States | AFP | On August 7, 1974, a trio of top Republican leaders went to the White House and told President Richard Nixon that party support was eroding and impeachment was inevitable. He resigned the next day. Fast forward 45 years, and another US president, Donald Trump, …
Read More »From Goya to Rubens, visitors marvel at Spanish duke’s art-filled palace
Madrid, Spain | AFP | Home to one of Spain’s most important private art collections that includes paintings by Goya, Velazquez and Rubens, the Liria Palace was for decades Madrid’s best kept cultural secret. But over 14,000 people have so far visited the home of the 19th Duke of Alba, the …
Read More »Trump conduct worse than Nixon’s: Democratic impeachment head
Washington, United States | AFP | Donald Trump’s conduct with Ukraine was far worse than the behavior that led to Richard Nixon’s downfall, the head of the congressional impeachment probe said Thursday as he summed up the case for the US president’s removal. Lawmakers investigating whether Trump abused his office by …
Read More »Trump probe builds evidence of ‘quid pro quo’
Washington, United States | AFP | The House of Representatives is investigating whether President Donald Trump has built a growing case that he put pressure on Ukraine for domestic political ends. Here are key facts that we know at this point: – The ‘favor’ call – Trump on July 25 spoke …
Read More »UN expert apologises for faulty figure on children in US migration detention
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | An independent UN expert has apologised for misspeaking during a news conference in Geneva this week, correcting his claim that more than 100,000 children were being held in migration-related US detention. AFP and a range of other media outlets were forced to retract their stories after …
Read More »Democrat debate exposes divides despite united front on Trump
Atlanta, United States | AFP | Divides between Democrats vying to challenge President Donald Trump in the 2020 election were laid bare in a bruising debate Wednesday, as the campaign’s rising star Pete Buttigieg acknowledged he faced challenges in attracting black voters. Buttigieg, the contest’s youngest candidate who is running in …
Read More »Top diplomat implicates Trump in explosive impeachment testimony
Washington, United States | AFP | A senior US diplomat directly implicated President Donald Trump Wednesday in a scheme to force Ukraine to probe a political rival, in bombshell testimony to a televised impeachment hearing. Gordon Sondland, the US envoy to the European Union and a Trump ally, told lawmakers he …
Read More »US authorizes ‘several’ firms to sell to Huawei amid sanctions
Washington, United States | AFP | US officials said Wednesday they have agreed to grant licenses to “several” firms to provide components to Chinese tech giant Huawei, which faces sanctions imposed over national security concerns. A Commerce Department spokesman said the agency had granted “narrow licenses to authorize limited and specific activities which do not …
Read More »Sondland: Trump never discussed Ukraine aid freeze
Washington, United States | AFP | US diplomat Gordon Sondland said Wednesday President Donald Trump never spoke to him about stalled military aid to Ukraine or any alleged link to Trump’s demands for political investigations. “I never heard from President Trump that aid was conditioned on an announcement of (the investigations),” …
Read More »Airlines’ fuel practices feed doubts over climate commitment
Paris, France | AFP | Airlines have taken steps to reduce their carbon footprints under the gaze of public opinion, but the pressure of the bottom line means some fly with extra fuel, boosting emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases. As the highly competitive air travel industry is being pushed to reduce …
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