Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump’s doctor Ronny Jackson withdrew his nomination to head the Department of Veterans Affairs on Thursday following allegations he improperly handed out drugs and was drunk at work. The withdrawal — just the latest staffing upset in an administration rocked by …
Read More »Head of Tesla Autopilot project leaves for Intel
San Francisco, United States | AFP | The head of Tesla’s Autopilot project is leaving the car marker, amid a US government probe into a fatal accident involving a vehicle using the semi-autonomous driving system. The executive, Jim Keller, is moving to chipmaking giant Intel, both companies said Thursday. Keller’s …
Read More »Cosby: from US cultural icon to convicted sex offender
Norristown, United States | AFP | From US cultural icon blazing past racial barriers to convicted sex offender: Thursday’s guilty verdict will now likely see Bill Cosby, “America’s Dad” swap a life of wealth and privilege for prison. It was a name that once evoked so much — treasured father …
Read More »Merkel heads for tough Trump talks on trade, Iran nuclear deal
Berlin, Germany | AFP | German Chancellor Angela Merkel visits US President Donald Trump on Friday for a last-ditch European effort to prevent a transatlantic trade war and save the Iran nuclear deal. Merkel’s working trip is expected to be far more business-like than this week’s pomp-filled state visit by French …
Read More »Google ramps up Gmail privacy controls in major update
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Google on Wednesday ramped up privacy controls in a Gmail overhaul, aiming first at businesses that use its suite of workplace tools hosted in the internet cloud. The “all new” Gmail is available to the more than four million businesses that pay for …
Read More »Kanye West, doubling down, voices ‘love’ of Trump
New York, United States | AFP | Rap superstar Kanye West doubled down Wednesday on his support for Donald Trump, tweeting his “love” for the president and flirting with his own political ambitions after his newfound conservatism raised eyebrows. A master of staying in the spotlight, West last week returned …
Read More »Cheap, portable test can identify risk of measles
Washington, United States | AFP | A cheap, portable device can warn of a person’s vulnerability to infectious diseases like measles, which kills tens of thousands of people each year, mainly in developing countries, researchers said Wednesday. The test, called the Measles-Rubella Box (MR Box), uses a finger-prick volume of …
Read More »W.Africa gorillas more numerous than thought, but still endangered
Miami, United States | AFP | Gorillas and chimpanzees may be twice as numerous in West Africa as previously thought, but the apes are still endangered, declining fast and in dire need of protection, an international study found Wednesday. Prior estimates were based on nest counts taken from isolated areas …
Read More »WhatsApp bans European under-16s from using app
Paris, France | AFP | WhatsApp has raised its minimum age for users in the European Union to 16 years, as the bloc prepares for a new online privacy law to come into force next month. In an update to its terms of service on Wednesday, WhatsApp said the minimum age …
Read More »Twitter momentum grows with second straight profit quarter
Washington, United States | AFP | Twitter reported its second consecutive quarterly profit Wednesday in a positive sign for the short messaging service after years in the red. The San Francisco-based social network earned $61 million in the first three months of the year, boosted by strong growth in advertising revenue …
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