WORLD

Berlin, Germany | AFP | German Chancellor Angela Merkel, campaigning Wednesday for the youth vote on YouTube ahead of September 24 elections, said her favourite emoticon was the “smiley” and dismissed fears about a potential World War III. The 63-year-old leader, in power for nearly 12 years, also said she hoped …

Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump on Wednesday lashed out at Amazon, claiming the US online colossus is doing “great damage” to other retailers and destroying jobs. Trump, who has criticized Amazon in the past, offered no specific facts to back up his argument. He launched his tirade …

Washington, United States | AFP | A tweet by former president Barack Obama about the violence in Charlottesville has become the most liked message in the history of Twitter, the company said Wednesday. The tweet by the country’s first black president quoted Nelson Mandela. “No one is born hating another person …

Washington, United States | AFP |  Former US leaders George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush on Wednesday issued a tough joint statement condemning racial bigotry and anti-Semitism, in a veiled rebuke of President Donald Trump. Trump sparked a political firestorm on Tuesday when he said counter-protesters appeared to be …

Kiev, Ukraine | AFP | Ukraine’s space agency said Tuesday that an engine type reportedly used in North Korean missiles was made at a Ukrainian factory, but solely for use in space rockets supplied to Russia. The development came after an expert report published Monday said Pyongyang’s recent rapid progress in …

Los Angeles, United States | AFP | Cleveland Cavaliers superstar LeBron James reacted swiftly Tuesday to US President Donald Trump’s repeated claim that there was “blame on both sides” in the deadly racial unrest in Charlottesville. “Hate has always existed in America. Yes we know that but Donald Trump just made …

The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | International judges issued a war crimes arrest warrant Tuesday against a senior Libyan military commander, suspected of involvement in the deaths of 33 people in the war-torn city of Benghazi. “The International Criminal Court has issued a warrant of arrest for Mahmoud Mustafa Busayf Al-Werfalli, …

New York, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump sparked another political firestorm Tuesday when he doubled down on his initial response to the violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville that ended in bloodshed, saying there was “blame on both sides.” The Republican president — who one day ago …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Two decades on from the death of princess Diana, her sons Princes William and Harry are working to keep her legacy alive with unusually emotional tributes after years of official silence. As the 20th anniversary of her death on August 31 approaches, the brothers have …

Moscow, Russia | AFP | Standing in a warehouse in a Moscow suburb, Dmitry Marinichev tries to speak over the deafening hum of hundreds of computers stacked on shelves hard at work mining for crypto money. “The form of currency we are used to is about to disappear,” predicts the 42-year-old …