WORLD

Paris, France | AFP | Having finally secured her fourth term as Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel heads to France on Friday for talks with President Emmanuel Macron, who is eager to push ahead with EU overhauls. Macron has called for a major reform drive to reinvigorate the European Union at …

Washington, United States | AFP | Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said if Iran develops a nuclear weapon, Riyadh will follow suit — just days before he arrives in Washington for talks with US President Donald Trump. “Saudi Arabia does not want to acquire any nuclear bomb, but …

Washington, United States | AFP | Donald Trump’s administration levied sanctions against Russia’s top spy agencies and more than a dozen individuals Thursday for trying to influence the 2016 US presidential election and two separate cyberattacks. The announcement follows a lengthy delay, which had caused anger on Capitol Hill and …

Paris, France | AFP | French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday backed Britain’s charge that Russia was responsible for the nerve agent poisoning of a former spy, saying there was “no other plausible explanation”. “Since the start of the week, Britain has kept France closely informed of the evidence gathered …

Beirut, Lebanon | AFP | A new convoy carrying desperately needed food aid entered the rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta near Syria’s capital on Thursday, the International Committee of the Red Cross told AFP. “The convoy entered Ghouta and is going to Douma now,” ICRC’s communication coordinator Pawel Krzysiek said. …

Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russian media on Thursday accused British Prime Minister Theresa May of having “poisoned” relations with Moscow by announcing the expulsion of diplomats in response to the poisoning of a former double agent with a nerve agent. “Theresa May has poisoned relations between London and Moscow,” …

Washington, United States | AFP | Donald Trump boasted he made things up in a conversation with Canada’s prime minister, insisting the US ran a trade deficit with its neighbor despite having “no idea” if the claim were true, the Washington Post reported. The US president recalled the exchange with …

Did you know? Remains of U.S. pilot from WWII found at the bottom of ocean Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | More than 70 years ago, during World War II, a U.S. pilot was shot down as he was flying over the Pacific. Over the decades, sand and sea life at …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | World dignitaries, celebrities and academics on Wednesday mourned Stephen Hawking, the British physicist who died aged 76 after a cosmic career in which his mental genius transcended his physical disability to probe the secrets of the universe. Propelled to stardom by his 1988 book “A …

Vienna, AUSTRIA | AFP | A UN’s anti-drug body added carfentanil, a synthetic substance estimated to be thousands of times more potent than morphine, to its list of controlled substances on Wednesday. The US had been pushing for the move, and welcomed the decision the UN’s Commission on Narcotic Drugs’ (CND) …