WORLD

Lausanne, Switzerland | AFP | Former UEFA president Michel Platini is finally free to return to football next week when his four-year ban for ethics violations ends, although he remains linked to a corruption investigation in his home country relating to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The former France …

San Francisco, United States | AFP | Pioneering digital payments firm PayPal on Friday said it is abandoning an alliance intended to oversee the Facebook-backed Libra cryptocurrency, which has come under attack by regulators. “PayPal has made the decision to forgo further participation in the Libra Association at this time,” …

London, United Kingdom | AFP |  BP said Friday that Chief Executive Bob Dudley, who oversaw the energy giant’s response to and recovery from the devastating Gulf of Mexico 2010 oil spill disaster, will leave next year. American Dudley, 64, will step down on February 4, 2020 and retire at the …

Washington, United States | AFP | Eighteen people have died from illnesses associated with e-cigarette use since March, US health authorities said Thursday, while more than a thousand others have suffered probable lung injuries linked to vaping. Officials have yet to identify the cause for the outbreak, which dates back to …

San Francisco, United States | AFP | The United States, Britain and Australia have called on Facebook to give authorities the ability to circumvent encryption used in its messaging services — a measure opposed by the social media giant. Facebook has been dogged by several privacy scandals in recent years and …

Oslo, Norway | AFP |  Eighty years ago on the brink of the bloodiest conflict in history, Adolf Hitler was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, illustrating that literally anyone can be nominated. From the Fuhrer to the “King of Pop”, in the nearly 120 years the prize has been awarded …

Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump openly called on China as well as Ukraine to investigate his potential 2020 election rival Joe Biden, taunting Democrats seeking his impeachment for inviting foreign election interference. Speaking in Florida, Trump blasted his accusers as “maniacs” pursuing “impeachment crap” as he …

Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump on Thursday brushed off North Korea’s test of a sea-launched ballistic missile, saying that planned nuclear talks with Pyongyang will go ahead. “They want to talk and we’ll be talking to them,” Trump told reporters at the White House in his …

Stockholm, Sweden | AFP | Since 1901, the Nobel prizes have been awarded to men, women and organisations whose work has led to great advances for mankind, in line with the wishes of Alfred Nobel. Here are five things to know about the prizes and their creator. – Nobel the poet …

Lisbon, Portugal | AFP |  Portugal’s Socialist Prime Minister Antonio Costa, tipped to win a second term in an election on Sunday, is a shrewd tactician who balanced the budget without losing the support of hard-left parties that propped up his minority government. The white-haired former mayor of Lisbon, of Indian …