Ramallah, Palestinian Territories | AFP | US President Donald Trump has invited Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas to visit the White House “soon”, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa said on Friday. During their first phone call since Trump’s inauguration in January, the US president invited Abbas “to visit the White …
Read More »US military faces burgeoning nude picture-sharing scandal
Washington, United States | AFP | The Pentagon faced a burgeoning scandal Friday as more pictures of naked female service members apparently shared without their consent by male colleagues have turned up on secret social media sites. US Defense Minister Jim Mattis denounced the practice as “egregious violations of the fundamental …
Read More »More than 730 change gender on NY birth certificates
New York, United States | AFP | More than 730 people aged five to 76 have changed gender on New York birth certificates since 2015, an explosion in applications after rules were relaxed two years ago, officials said Thursday. The 731 gender-change applications approved since January 2015 come in stark …
Read More »ANALYSIS: Trump takes risk in targeting critical Republican
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump took aim at a fellow Republican who opposes his healthcare reform plan Wednesday, in a bid to squash dissent that presents a major test to his presidential punch. After years of Republican efforts to rip up Barack Obama’s emblematic healthcare law, …
Read More »CIA says WikiLeaks disclosures help US adversaries
Washington, United States | AFP | The Central Intelligence Agency on Wednesday accused WikiLeaks of endangering Americans, helping US rivals and hampering Washington’s fight against terror threats by releasing what the anti-secrecy site claimed was a trove of CIA hacking tools. A CIA spokeswoman would not confirm the authenticity of the …
Read More »Decried as Muslim ban, will Trump decree pass legal muster?
Washington, United States | AFP | States’ attorneys general, civil liberties groups and others are already lining up to challenge President Donald Trump’s revised ban on refugees and travelers from six mainly Muslim countries. But can they succeed in overturning a measure that was deliberately crafted to remove the red flags …
Read More »Boeing developing new mid-range plane to rival Airbus
New York, United States | AFP | Boeing is in talks with potential clients about developing a new plane to fit into a niche category now dominated by rival Airbus, a Boeing executive said Tuesday. The new plane, known as the 737 MAX 10X, would offer more range to Boeing’s …
Read More »The CIA can turn your TV into a listening device – WikiLeaks
WikiLeaks exposes alleged CIA hacking program Washington, United States | AFP | The CIA can turn your TV into a listening device, bypass popular encryption apps, and possibly control your car, according to a trove of alleged documents from the US spy agency released Tuesday by WikiLeaks. The group posted nearly …
Read More »Republican backlash over Trump-backed health care bill
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump faced mounting concern from fellow Republicans Tuesday over their party’s plan to replace Obamacare, with conservatives warning the bill was too similar to existing controversial health care law. Several far-right lawmakers said the Republican plan abandons conservative fiscal principles by …
Read More »Pressure mounts on Uber and CEO after missteps
Washington, United States | AFP | After a series of embarrassing revelations, ridesharing giant Uber faces challenges in keeping growth on track, with top executive Travis Kalanick likely to face pressure to give up some control. Analysts say Uber’s rocky past month — marred by disclosures about a culture of …
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