Beijing, China | AFP | China announced Friday it will hit US soybeans, lobsters, peanut butter and other imports worth $75 billion with new tariffs in retaliation for Washington’s planned duty hikes, further intensifying the bruising trade war between the world’s top two economies. The punitive tariffs of 5 to …
Read More »Trump slams Danish PM’s ‘nasty’ rejection of Greenland deal
Washington, United States | AFP | Donald Trump snapped back Wednesday at the Danish prime minister’s “nasty” dismissal of his attempts to purchase Greenland, heightening a row which had already prompted the US president to scrap a state visit. Hours after announcing he would not visit Copenhagen next month as …
Read More »Controversial study links tap water during pregnancy to lower IQ
Controversial study links fluoridated water during pregnancy to lower IQ Washington, United States | AFP | A study published Monday linked consumption of fluoridated tap water during pregnancy to lower IQ scores in infants, a finding at odds with decades of public health messaging extolling the mineral’s benefits in reducing …
Read More »Google, Facebook, Amazon decry French digital tax as ‘discriminatory’
Washington, United States | AFP | American tech giants Amazon, Facebook and Google joined forces on Monday to decry the French digital tax as retroactive and discriminatory. President Donald Trump is considering retaliating against the tax — approved July 11 — with punitive tariffs on French wine imports, prompting an …
Read More »Fears in US of bad peace deal with the Taliban
Washington, United States | AFP | An Afghanistan peace agreement that the US seems close to reaching with the Taliban has prompted worries that President Donald Trump’s desire to quickly withdraw US troops could further plunge the country into civil war. Trump said Friday he was pleased with talks on ending …
Read More »US issues warrant for seizure of Iranian tanker in Gibraltar
Washington, United States | AFP | The US Justice Department issued a warrant Friday for the seizure of the Iranian oil supertanker Grace 1, one day after a Gibraltar judge allowed the release of the detained vessel. The Justice Department alleged the ship was part of a scheme “to unlawfully access …
Read More »Scientists a step closer to a cure for Ebola
Two Ebola drugs found to increase survival rates: health officials Washington, United States | AFP | Scientists were a step closer to a cure for Ebola on Monday after two of four drugs in a clinical trial were found to significantly increase survival rates, the US health authority co-funding the …
Read More »Trump, 2020 underdog Marianne Williamson, and America’s ‘deeper truths’
Clear Lake, United States | AFP | Bill Clinton felt your pain. Barack Obama assured that yes, we can. And for Marianne Williamson, the spiritualist author leading a notable but surpassingly longshot US presidential bid, love conquers all. Remote as her 2020 prospects may be against two dozen other …
Read More »Forty-six new US Peace Corps Volunteers start work in Uganda
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The US Ambassador to Uganda Deborah Malac has presided over the swearing-in ceremony of 46 United States Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs). This newest group of 21 health and 25 agribusiness volunteers brings the total number of Peace Corps Volunteers currently serving in Uganda …
Read More »EL PASO: 15 shot dead at Walmart store in Texas
El Paso, United States | AFP | A gunman armed with an assault rifle opened fire on shoppers at a packed Walmart store Saturday, reportedly killing at least 15 people in the latest mass shooting in the United States. Although the exact scale of the tragedy in El Paso, Texas, …
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