Hong Kong, China | AFP | Hong Kong police Monday warned for the first time in months of unrest that they may use “live rounds” after pro-democracy protesters fired arrows and threw petrol bombs at officers at a besieged university campus, as the crisis engulfing the city sharply escalated. Protests …
Read More »Ronaldo targets 100th goal, Euro 2020 berth and revenge
Lisbon, Portugal | AFP | Cristiano Ronaldo travels to Luxembourg on Sunday with the objective of helping reigning champions Portugal qualify for Euro 2020 and the 100-goal mark for his country within his reach. The former Real Madrid star is also eager to prove he is not a player in …
Read More »The man who saved Lanzarote from overdevelopment
Tahíche, Spain | AFP | Roadside billboards and high-rise hotels are banned on Spain’s holiday island of Lanzarote — a legacy of visionary artist Cesar Manrique, whose birth a century ago is being celebrated this year. Part of the volcanic Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago located in the Atlantic Ocean off …
Read More »Trump to attend NATO summit in London, days before UK vote
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump will visit Britain for NATO’s 70th-anniversary summit next month, the White House said Friday, in a trip falling days before the country votes in a general election. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is seeking to retain power in the December 12 …
Read More »Fight for safe abortions is far from over, say experts
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The fight for safe abortions is an uphill struggle with half of all terminations worldwide still conducted in risky conditions, pro-choice advocates told a major women’s health conference in Nairobi. Despite gains in many countries, there are huge barriers in poorer parts of the world, they …
Read More »North Korea calls Biden ‘rabid dog’ that ‘must be beaten to death’
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea has launched a visceral diatribe against US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, calling the former vice-president a “rabid dog” — while also borrowing the terminology of Donald Trump. Pyongyang is renowned for its vitriol, but the verbal deluge was unusually ferocious even by …
Read More »Trump tests his electoral power in Louisiana governor’s fight
Bossier City, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump campaigned on Thursday for the Republican challenger in the Louisiana governor’s race, in what is seen as a test of his own political vitality as he battles an impeachment inquiry. Addressing a rally in Bossier City, Trump urged a crowd of thousands whose votes …
Read More »MH17 calls ‘show ties between Russian officials, rebels’
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | International investigators looking into the downing of flight MH17 over Ukraine released intercepted phone calls on Thursday showing close links between “high-ranking” Russian officials and rebel suspects facing trial over the crash. The probe said the recordings raised questions about the possible involvement of key …
Read More »Amazon says ‘bias’ in Pentagon awarding $10 bn contract to Microsoft
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Amazon on Thursday challenged the awarding of a $10 billion Pentagon cloud computing contract to Microsoft, alleging “unmistakable bias” in the process. The 10-year contract for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure program, better known as JEDI, ultimately will see all military branches sharing information …
Read More »The rediscovered memories of a Viennese Jewish family
Vienna, Austria | AFP | Another moving chapter in the story of the Viennese Jewish Ephrussi family — made famous in the book The Hare With Amber Eyes — has been written after around 40 members of the family reunited in the Austrian capital for the first time in decades. The …
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