NEWS ANALYSIS

Vienna, Austria | AFP |  It may sound like a strange thing to enshrine in a country’s constitution: the right to pay cash. But a debate on whether to do just that has entered Austria’s election campaign, shining a light on the country’s love of cold, hard currency. The Austrian …

Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP |  The seaside resort offers visitors a cool drink or tasty meal, a dip in a pool, a karaoke session or an overnight stay, all with a view. Nothing much new there, you may say — creature comforts like this are pretty much standard in tropical …

South Africa | AFP |  It’s old, doesn’t look like much and is located well out the way in an arid part of western South Africa. But the Steenkampskraal Mine may be about to become piping hot mining property thanks to some of the world’s highest-grade deposits of rare earth metals. …

Biarritz, France | AFP |  British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will on Sunday seek to persuade President Donald Trump to offer flexibility on trade and also win concessions from the EU on Brexit, at a G7 summit hosted by France marked by stark divisions. Johnson was to hold his long-awaited first …

Milan, Italy | AFP | Juventus captain Giorgio Chiellini scored the first goal of the Serie A season on Saturday as the champions kicked off their bid for a ninth consecutive title with a pedestrian 1-0 win at Parma. As the champions struggled without coach Maurizio Sarri, absent from the bench …

Cologne, Germany | AFP | Urging fans to plunge into a virtual high-res surround sound universe of extraordinary games, Google hopes its cloud-based Stadia platform will take the world by storm on its November launch. The US digital behemoth unveiled details of its nascent streaming video platform at this week’s Gamescom …

Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump threatened his French hosts with taxes on their wines Friday as he headed to a G7 summit in France with a series of parting shots, including another broadside at the Federal Reserve’s chairman. After a day that saw big falls on …

New York, United States | AFP |  A Japanese dream duo of Naomi Osaka and Kei Nishikori could come together for mixed doubles at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. World number one Osaka, the reigning US and Australian Open champion, and Nishikori, the 2014 US Open runner-up ranked seventh in the world, could …

Washington, United States | AFP | The thousands of fires burning in the Amazon don’t look like the major forest fires of Europe or North America — instead, they are fueled mainly by branches, vegetation and other byproducts of deforestation in cleared areas, experts say. The dramatic scale of this year’s …

New York, United States | AFP |  Serena Williams has the US Open spotlight as she chases tennis history, but a host of Grand Slam winners and high-ranked rivals are also taking aim at the title. The 37-year-old American will be the focus of attention when the Flushing Meadows fortnight begins …