WORLD

Miami, United States | AFP | Hurricane Dorian strengthened into an “extremely dangerous” storm on Friday as it bore down on the Bahamas and the east coast of the US state of Florida. Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis urged residents of the Atlantic Ocean archipelago in the path of the “very …

Lacroix-Saint-Ouen, France | AFP |  Equipped with powerful magnets, history enthusiasts and environmentalists scour France’s rivers, pulling out bits of scrap metal, bikes, scooters and the odd kitchen appliance. Sometimes, too, they fish other more unexpected objects out of the water, such as unexploded munitions. Magnet fishing has fast become a …

San Francisco, United States | AFP | Huawei’s upcoming flagship Mate 30 smartphone will launch next month without key Google apps, creating a disadvantage for the Chinese tech giant hit by US sanctions. A Google spokesperson confirmed Thursday that the California firm won’t be able to deliver licensed applications such as Gmail, Maps and YouTube …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he wants to “step up the tempo” in talks with the European Union to strike a new Brexit deal before the October 31 deadline. The comments came ahead of a court ruling Friday that could block Johnson’s suspension of parliament …

Miami, United States | AFP |  US President Donald Trump canceled a trip to Poland as Hurricane Dorian headed towards Florida, strengthening on Thursday to a Category 2 storm. Trump, who had been scheduled to attend World War II anniversary commemorations this weekend, said he would focus instead on preparations for …

Paris, France | AFP |  Roman Polanski, whose new film on the persecution of the French Jewish army officer Alfred Dreyfus is premiering at the Venice Film Festival, is still dogged by a rape case that continues to polarise opinion. Here is a recap of the four-decade affair: – March, 1977 …

Copenhagen, Denmark | AFP |  Measles cases are skyrocketing in Europe and the disease is surging in four countries previously considered to have eliminated it, including the UK, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned Thursday, urging countries to step up vaccination efforts. “Re-establishment of measles transmission is concerning. If high immunisation …

Washington, United States | AFP |  New US Defense Secretary Mark Esper picked his way through a political minefield in his first public meeting with the media Wednesday, skirting anything that could irritate his irascible boss President Donald Trump. Just hours after predecessor James Mattis wrote that Trump’s policies toward US …

Washington, United States | AFP | Time to raise a glass to your gut health? Scientists at King’s College London have found that red wine drinkers have a greater diversity of bacteria in their digestive tracts, a marker of gastrointestinal health, than those who drink other alcohol. Their paper, published …

London, United Kingdom | AFP |  An online petition opposing British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s move Wednesday to suspend parliament weeks before Brexit garnered more than one million signatures within a few hours. The over a million signed on the petition stating that,  “Do not prorogue Parliament. Parliament must not …