WORLD

Paraiesti, Romania | AFP |  With a religious icon pinned to a wall, washing hung out to dry, and a table and two chairs standing on a terrace, Paraiesti looks like almost any other village in rural Romania — at least at first glance. But Paraiesti is actually more of a …

Beijing, China | AFP | China’s exports suffered their third month of decline in October, and while the drop was less than expected there were warnings Friday of more pain to come as the US trade war rumbles on. While tensions between the world’s top two economies are beginning to ease, …

Munich, Germany | AFP | The outgoing president of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker said Friday he believes the US will not impose new tariffs on imported European cars in the coming days. President Donald Trump’s administration has been threatening since last year to impose tariffs on auto imports to defend …

Washington, United States | AFP | What makes some music so enjoyable, and can science help us engineer the perfect pop song? A group of researchers who statistically analyzed tens of thousands of chord progressions in classic US Billboard hits say they have found the answer, and it lies in the …

Washington, United States | AFP |  A senior US diplomat saw President Donald Trump’s pressure for Ukraine to investigate his Democratic rival as a threat to the rule of law in both countries, testimony released Thursday showed. As Congress moved towards launching public hearings on impeaching Trump next week, it also …

Cusma, Romania | AFP | When Maria Lacatus’ son opened the barn door, it was already too late. “The bear had one of the pigs in its claws,” the sobbing 86-year-old says. After losing a horse too a few days later, Lacatus now agrees with many of her neighbours in the …

San Francisco, United States | AFP | Leaked documents from a civil suit against Facebook show how the social network aimed to employ user data as a tool for bargaining and to manipulate competitors, NBC News reported on Wednesday. Some 7,000 pages of documents reveal how Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg and …

Washington, United States | AFP |  US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he had hosted successful talks in the White House with representatives of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan on a controversial dam being built on the Nile. Trump was mediating in a dispute over Ethiopia’s construction of the huge …

Birmingham, United Kingdom | AFP | British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday launched the Conservatives’ election campaign in  a traditional stronghold of the Labour opposition he hopes to win over by vowing to “get Brexit done”. Addressing supporters who were dressed in t-shirts bearing the slogan, he urged voters to …

Doha, Qatar | AFP | The cows of Qatar’s Baladna farm, housed in climate-controlled farms in the desert, exemplify the lengths to which Qatar has gone to resist what it calls an economic “blockade” enforced by its Saudi-led neighbours. When the boycott began in June 2017, Qatar responded with sweeping measures, …