CIA chief urges Trump to temper impulses amid Russia claims Washington, United States | AFP | Allegations of Russian interference in US politics cast a shadow over inaugural preparations on Sunday, with the CIA chief warning that President-elect Donald Trump must tamp down his shoot-from-the-hip style to protect national security. …
Read More »Uganda detects bird flu in Entebbe, Masaka
Kampala, Uganda | AFP | Uganda announced Sunday it had detected bird flu among migratory birds, without specifying whether it was the particularly virulent H5 strain detected this season in countries worldwide. The agriculture ministry said bird flu had been detected in two spots, one near Entebbe, on the banks …
Read More »Kidnapped at birth, US woman found 18 years later
Miami, United States | AFP | A girl who was stolen at birth from a Florida hospital 18 years ago has been found in good condition and the woman who raised her has been charged with kidnapping, US authorities said Friday. Kamiyah Mobley, whose abduction was national news, was found …
Read More »US Congress approves first step for repealing Obamacare
Washington, United States | AFP | The US House of Representatives on Friday joined the Senate in passing a critical measure that marks the first major step toward repealing outgoing President Barack Obama’s landmark but controversial health care reforms. The House’s party-line vote of 227 to 198 approved a budget …
Read More »India’s booming passenger airline industry: the facts
New Delhi, India | AFP | India has the world’s fastest growing passenger airline industry, expanding at an annual rate of around 20 percent. Here are some facts and figures: – How many Indians fly – Nearly 90 million people in the financial year that ended in March 31 2016, …
Read More »Report indicates WhatsApp is vulnerable to snooping
London, United Kingdom | AFP | The Facebook-owned mobile messaging service WhatsApp is vulnerable to interception, the Guardian newspaper reported on Friday, sparking concern over an app advertised as putting an emphasis on privacy. The report said that WhatsApp messages could be read without its billion-plus users knowing due to …
Read More »Obamas’ dog, perhaps not taking transition well, bites visitor
Washington, United States | AFP | Blood was spilled Monday at the White House, but the culprit’s politics were not to blame: the Obamas’ dog Sunny bit a teenaged guest of the family, leaving a gash above her cheekbone, TMZ reported on Thursday. The 18-year-old girl, whose name has not …
Read More »Baboons make vowel-like sounds, similar to humans
Paris, France | AFP | Baboons make sounds that are similar to the vowels a,e,i,o and u, researchers said Wednesday, suggesting that some monkeys have had the physical capacity for language for millions of years. The findings in the journal PLOS ONE add a new dimension to the long-running debate …
Read More »Trump insists US will build a wall and Mexico will reimburse it
New York, United States | AFP | Donald Trump vowed Wednesday to forge ahead with plans for a wall on the southern US border after taking office, and said Mexico would reimburse the United States for the cost. “I could wait about a year and a half until we finish …
Read More »Crisis of market fundamentalism
COMMENT: By Anatole Kaletsky Factors powering next phase of capitalism must be paired with government redistribution of gains The biggest political surprise of 2016 was that everyone was so surprised. I certainly had no excuse to be caught unawares: soon after the 2008 crisis, I wrote a book suggesting that …
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