Washington, United States | AFP | Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner faced little scrutiny on his way to becoming one of America’s most powerful people. But now a row over White House security clearances is pushing the president’s publicity-shy favorite into unwelcome limelight. Unlike his can’t-get-enough-exposure father-in-law, Kushner is a discreet …
Read More »Trump threatens to close border with Mexico ‘next week’
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump on Friday again accused Mexico of failing to curb the flow of migrants illegally entering the US, and threatened to close the common border “next week” unless something changes. Trump’s latest tweets ramp up the tension between the neighbors, putting a specific timeframe to his threats …
Read More »Venezuela: Maduro regime strips Guaido of public office
Caracas, Venezuela | AFP | Venezuela’s auditor general’s office announced Thursday it has stripped opposition leader and speaker of congress Juan Guaido of the right to hold public office for 15 years. The move, announced by Auditor General Elvis Amoroso on state television, marked another effort by President Nicolas Maduro’s regime …
Read More »How US is pushing Maduro’s envoys off international bodies
Caracas, Venezuela | AFP | Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is being squeezed internationally as the United States pressures key multilateral bodies to boot out his “illegitimate” representatives. To publicly underline America’s position and its support of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido as interim leader, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday welcomed …
Read More »US judge recommends partial ban on iPhone imports to US
San Francisco, United States | AFP | A US trade judge ruled Tuesday that Apple had violated a Qualcomm chipmaker patent and said she would recommend banning imports of some iPhones. International Trade Commission administrative law specialist MaryJoan McNamara wrote that she would be recommending a “limited exclusion order together with …
Read More »Trump: today’s airplanes ‘too complex to fly’
Washington, United States | AFP | As investigators probe the latest deadly crash of Boeing’s bestselling airliner, US President Donald Trump weighed in Tuesday with his own explanation: modern planes are too complicated for pilots. “Airplanes are becoming far too complex to fly,” he tweeted, adding that instead of pilots, the planes require “computer scientists …
Read More »N. Korea may be preparing a missile or space launch: NPR
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea may be preparing for a missile or space launch, US news outlet NPR has reported, based on satellite image analysis of a key facility near Pyongyang. NPR said the images of Sanumdong, one of the facilities Pyongyang has used to produce inter-continental ballistic …
Read More »Trump asks for Republican loyalty ahead of border wall vote
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump urged Republican party rebels on Wednesday not to support Democrats voting to scrap his invocation of emergency powers for funding US-Mexico border wall construction. “STAY UNITED!” Trump tweeted ahead of a Senate vote in which four Republicans are expected to break ranks …
Read More »Trump lashes out at ‘crazy’ opponents as pressure mounts
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump branded Democratic opponents “crazy” and guilty of overreach Tuesday in a fevered response to a huge new Democratic-led probe of his alleged crimes. In a searing burst of early morning tweets, the president said the House Judiciary Committee investigation launched Monday was “the greatest overreach in …
Read More »Juan Guaido: the ‘kid’ taking on Venezuela’s Maduro
Caracas, Venezuela | AFP | Juan Guaido proudly calls himself a “survivor,” and he proved just that in defying the threat of arrest to make a triumphant return to Venezuela on Monday. Since stunning the world on January 23 when issuing a direct challenge to Nicolas Maduro’s authority by declaring himself acting president, Guaido has …
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