Awamiya, Saudi Arabia | AFP | Strip malls and palm-dotted boulevards stand in the once bullet-scarred old quarter of Awamiya, a Shiite-majority town on Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich eastern coast where the long-planned facelift fuelled deadly clashes. Until a year ago, Musawara neighbourhood resembled a war zone following skirmishes between militants …
Read More »World leaders, veterans mark D-Day launch
Portsmouth, United Kingdom | AFP | US President Donald Trump, Queen Elizabeth II and 300 veterans are to gather on the south coast of England on Wednesday for a poignant ceremony marking the 75th anniversary of D-Day. Other world leaders will join them in Portsmouth for Britain’s national event to …
Read More »World health experts meet
Assembly discusses cost of medicine, environment, climate change Member States at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland have agreed a new global strategy on health, environment and climate change: the transformation needed to improve lives and well-being sustainably through healthy environments. The annual gathering organised by the UN’s World …
Read More »Renault interested in Fiat Chrysler merger but to hold new meeting
Paris, France | AFP | French carmaker Renault on Tuesday said it was studying “with interest” an offer for a merger with Fiat Chrysler (FCA) after a crunch management meeting but added its board would meet again for further deliberations. The board of Renault had been expected to decide Tuesday to …
Read More »Trump courts May’s would-be PM successors on UK state visit
London, United Kingdom | AFP | US President Donald Trump courted candidates to replace Prime Minister Theresa May during his state visit to Britain on Tuesday, as the first leadership debates kicked off in parliament. Trump spoke to Boris Johnson and met other frontrunners, while he also held talks with …
Read More »Trump promises May ‘very substantial’ trade deal after Brexit
London, United Kingdom | AFP | President Donald Trump touted a “very, very substantial trade deal” between the United States and Britain after Brexit as he met Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday for fraught talks held amid street protests. He joked to the outgoing British leader that she should “stick …
Read More »Queen Elizabeth throws lavish state banquet for Trump
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Queen Elizabeth II threw a lavish banquet for US President Donald Trump after he kicked off his three-day state visit to Britain on Monday by weighing in on Brexit. The Trump dynasty sat down to dinner with the British royal family in the Buckingham Palace …
Read More »Trump meets queen after insulting London mayor
London, United Kingdom | AFP | US President Donald Trump met Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace on Monday after kicking off his UK state visit by branding the London mayor a “loser” and weighing in on the Brexit debate. With a 41-gun royal salute ringing out across the royal palace’s …
Read More »Trump lashes London mayor, brings Brexit advice on UK state visit
London, United Kingdom | AFP | US President Donald Trump arrived on his state visit to Britain on Monday in combative mood, following up his weekend interventions over Brexit with a broadside against London’s “loser” mayor. The president’s plane had not even touched down when he tweeted that Sadiq Khan, who …
Read More »D-Day tourism boom brings crowds, and controversy, to Normandy
Caen, France | AFP | The number of people visiting the World War II cemeteries, museums and battle sites along the Normandy coast of France has soared in recent years, creating a tourist windfall but generating criticism that a harrowing chapter of history is being sullied by crass commercialism. The tourist …
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