Accra, Ghana | AFP | Ghana will not sign an agreement with Washington to set up a military base, President Nana Akufo-Addo said on Thursday. The president confirmed in a television address that the two countries would ink a defence cooperation agreement, but was emphatic that “Ghana has not offered …
Read More »US to update Saudi Arabia artillery for record $1.31 billion
Washington, United States | AFP | The United States on Thursday approved a contract to sell Saudi Arabia 180 self-propelled artillery systems for $1.31 billion, in the latest stage of perhaps the world’s biggest arms deal. When US President Donald Trump visited Riyadh last year he boasted that the desert …
Read More »America remembers Martin Luther King Jr, 50 years on
Memphis, United States | AFP | Americans on Wednesday marked 50 years since the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, a day seared into the national consciousness that transformed the civil rights leader into a symbol of the fight for racial equality. In a country still torn over issues of race …
Read More »YouTube shooting shows how fake news spirals on social media
Paris, France | AFP | Within minutes of the shooting at YouTube offices in California, social media was awash with conspiracy theories and images of the supposed “shooter” wearing a Muslim headscarf. Some Facebook videos were quick to claim that it was a “false flag” attack, carried out to discredit the …
Read More »Facebook says 87 million may be affected by data breach
Washington, United States | AFP | Facebook said Wednesday personal data on as many as 87 million users was improperly shared with British political consultancy Cambridge Analytica. The new figure eclipses a previous estimate of 50 million in a further embarrassment to the social network roiled by a privacy scandal. The …
Read More »Female suspect dead, several hurt in YouTube shooting
San Bruno, United States | AFP | Gunfire erupted at YouTube’s offices in California Tuesday, leaving three people wounded and sparking a panicked escape before the suspected shooter — a woman — apparently committed suicide. California news outlets late Tuesday said she appeared to be a vegan-themed content creator who has …
Read More »Trump wants US troops to ‘get out’ of Syria
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump said Tuesday he wants American troops to “get out” of Syria, even as some of his top officials stressed the need to stay for the long term. Trump’s remarks follow comments last week when he vowed US forces would soon quit …
Read More »NASA hires Lockheed Martin to build quiet, supersonic plane
Washington, United States | AFP | NASA has inked a deal with Lockheed Martin to develop a supersonic “X-plane” that could break the sound barrier without a sonic boom, officials said Tuesday. The $247.5 million contract allows for the design, building and testing of a plane that would make its …
Read More »Spotify soars in $26 billion stock debut
New York, United States | AFP | Spotify soared Tuesday to a value of more than $26 billion in its long-awaited stock debut as the market delivered a ringing endorsement of the future of music streaming. In one of the largest public offerings ever in the tech sector, Spotify on …
Read More »Trump vows to deploy military to Mexican border
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump on Tuesday vowed to deploy the military to secure America’s southern border, as a caravan of Central American migrants heads north through Mexico toward the United States. The US leader has spent three days attacking the Mexican government for failing to block …
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