San Francisco, United States | AFP | Facebook said Friday it would add $9 billion to its stock buyback program, which could scoop up shares pummeled over the past few months by privacy scandals and a slump on Wall Street. In a regulatory filing, the leading social network said it …
Read More »Huawei exec faces US fraud charges linked to Iran
Vancouver, Canada | AFP | Chinese telecom giant Huawei’s chief financial officer faces US fraud charges related to sanctions-breaking business dealings with Iran, a Canadian court heard Friday, a week after she was detained on an American extradition request. Meng Wanzhou, 46, was arrested in Canada’s Pacific coast city of …
Read More »Tillerson: Trump ‘undisciplined,’ wanted to break law
Washington, United States | AFP | Former US secretary of state Rex Tillerson says that President Donald Trump repeatedly wanted to violate the law, describing him as “undisciplined” and uninterested in details. Tillerson, who was fired in March, made no attempt to deny his poor relationship with Trump during a …
Read More »Ex-FBI director Comey grilled again in US Congress
Washington, United States | AFP | Former FBI director James Comey, sacked by President Donald Trump in 2017, testified Friday before US lawmakers for the first time in over a year, but this time out of the camera glare. The hours-long Capitol Hill grilling comes amid turbulence at the White …
Read More »US job creation slows to 155,000 in November; unemployment 3.7%
Washington, United States | AFP | Job creation slowed unexpectedly in the United States last month as the service sector added fewer workers, but the unemployment rate held steady at a 49-year low, the government reported Friday. The new numbers fell below recent trends and avoided another blow-out result, denying …
Read More »Israel’s Netanyahu hails UN Hamas vote despite defeat
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday hailed majority backing in the UN General Assembly for condemning militant group Hamas even though a draft resolution failed to win enough votes to pass. The US draft won 87 votes in the General Assembly on Thursday compared …
Read More »Trump to pick State Dept spokeswoman Heather Nauert as UN envoy: reports
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump is expected Friday to nominate State Department spokeswoman and former Fox TV news anchor Heather Nauert as US ambassador to the United Nations, according to multiple reports. If confirmed by the Senate, she would take over from Nikki Haley, who announced …
Read More »CNN offices evacuated after bomb threat, no explosive found
New York, United States | AFP | CNN’s New York offices were evacuated Thursday night after a bomb threat, but no explosive was found and police later gave the all clear, the network said. The roughly 90 minute drama recalled a similar evacuation in October after an explosive device was …
Read More »Canada defends Huawei arrest after markets wobble
Montreal, Canada | AFP | Canada on Thursday defended its arrest of an executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei on a US extradition request after markets wobbled on fears of fresh friction between Washington and Beijing. With China demanding the release of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou, Canadian Prime …
Read More »Politics played no role in Huawei exec’s arrest – Trudeau
Montreal, Canada | AFP | Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that politics played no part in the arrest of a top executive of Chinese tech giant Huawei, who was detained on a US extradition request. “I can assure everyone that we are a country (with) an independent judiciary,” …
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