WORLD

Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russian President Vladimir Putin is promising to invest tens of trillions of rubles in the country’s dilapidated infrastructure and other sectors over the next five years in a bid to kickstart anaemic economic growth. Russia’s new Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, who was appointed by Putin last …

Davos, Switzerland | AFP | US President Donald Trump relaunched a major trade offensive against Europe on Wednesday, threatening to hit the EU with damaging auto tariffs if Europeans failed to agree a long-delayed trade deal. With observers warning that global harmony on trade was crucial to the health of the …

Beijing, China | AFP | A new SARS-like virus has killed nine people in China, infected hundreds and reached as far as the United States, with fears mounting about its spread as hundreds of millions travel for Lunar New Year celebrations, which start Friday. Many countries have stepped up screening of …

Washington, United States | AFP |  Republicans and Democrats clashed over calling witnesses and demanding White House documents on the first full day Tuesday of the historic impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. House impeachment managers led by veteran prosecutor Adam Schiff used the opening debate over trial procedures to lay …

Many think it is now more likely as Republicans rally behind Trump’s killing of top Iranian general | THE INDEPENDENT | Republicans of all stripes are standing solidly in support of President Donald Trump’s decision to kill a top Iranian general—even though some believe it makes war more likely. Conversations …

Davos, Switzerland | AFP | From his mountain perch at the Davos conference on Tuesday, US President Donald Trump saw only a perfect world. Back in Washington, the Senate was about to enter the heart of the impeachment trial threatening his presidency. In the Swiss Alps, campaigners warned that climate change …

Vancouver, Canada | AFP | Prince Harry was spending the first full day of his new life in Canada on Tuesday after jetting in from Britain to join his wife Meghan following their shock exit from their royal roles. Harry, 35, landed at Vancouver International Airport on a British Airways flight …

Davos, Switzerland | AFP | US President Donald Trump on Tuesday assailed environmental “prophets of doom”, delivering an uncompromising message in Davos after Swedish teenage campaigner Greta Thunberg slammed government inaction on the climate crisis. Thunberg was in the audience in the Swiss Alps to hear a typically bullish speech by …

Al-Hol Camp, Syria | AFP | In an overcrowded desert camp for families linked to the Islamic State group in northeastern Syria, a French woman begged for another chance so she and her children could go home. In the same settlement, two other French women were more tepid about the prospect …

Washington, United States | AFP |  President Donald Trump’s historic impeachment trial begins in earnest Tuesday in the Senate, with Democrats calling for his removal from office and Republicans determined to acquit him — and quickly, if possible. Four months after the Ukraine scandal exploded and went on to overshadow the …