Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump on Friday ousted his beleaguered chief of staff Reince Priebus, replacing him with retired Marine Corps general and current Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly. Priebus has been under fire for weeks, seeing one White House ally after another resign or …
Read More »IMF urges US to ‘protect’ gains won under Obamacare
Washington, United States | AFP | The International Monetary Fund on Thursday waded into the US health care debate, urging the Trump administration to “protect” gains achieved under President Barack Obama. As the US Senate continues the heated debate over repealing the Affordable Care Act implemented under Trump’s predecessor, the IMF …
Read More »Subscription gains help put NY Times in profit column
New York, United States | AFP | The New York Times Co. said Thursday gains in paid digital subscriptions and stronger online advertising revenues helped the newspaper swing to profit in the second quarter. The prestigious daily, which has been gaining subscribers even as it is branded as “failing” by President …
Read More »Amazon’s Jeff Bezos becomes world’s richest person – briefly
New York, United States | AFP | Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on Thursday became the world’s richest person, as a jump in the share price of the US tech giant enabled him to overtake Microsoft founder Bill Gates, a new estimate showed. Forbes magazine said its real-time tracking of personal …
Read More »Firing Russia special counsel could sink Trump: Republican senator
Washington, United States | AFP | If Donald Trump fires the special prosecutor investigating his team’s ties to alleged Russian meddling in the US election, it could mark “the beginning of the end” of the billionaire’s presidency, a senior Republican lawmaker warned Thursday. Senator Lindsey Graham, who briefly ran against …
Read More »Twitter dives, growth stall highlights contrast with Facebook
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Twitter shares were hammered Thursday after the company reported no gain in its user base in the past quarter, raising fresh fears about the future of the service as it loses more ground to Facebook. Twitter, which has been struggling to keep pace …
Read More »Hillary to explain ‘What Happened’ in new book
New York, United States | AFP | Defeated Democratic White House hopeful Hillary Clinton promises to let her guard down and explain what happened in her shock electoral defeat to Donald Trump, including the mistakes she made, in a book to published in September. Publishers Simon and Schuster revealed Thursday …
Read More »No changes yet to US military transgender policy: Joint Chiefs
Washington, United States | AFP | The Pentagon’s top officer directed military heads Thursday not to implement any changes to current policy on transgender personnel, a day after President Donald Trump tweeted they would be banned from serving. General Joe Dunford, who is Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff, said …
Read More »Under pressure, Trump turns attention back to Clinton
Washington, United States | AFP | Two chants emerged as hallmarks of Donald Trump’s campaign rallies as he made his improbable run for the White House. One was “Build the wall!” and the other was “Lock her up!” The plan for a wall on the border with Mexico has been …
Read More »Coca-Cola launches revamped diet cola in US as earnings drop
New York, United States | AFP | Coca-Cola announced plans Wednesday to launch a revamped “Coke Zero” in the United States as it expands offerings of low-sugar and non-carbonated beverages amid flagging demand for sweet sodas. The soda, “Coke-Cola Zero Sugar,” which is already on the market in much of …
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