Paris, France | AFP | France on Thursday became the first major economy to impose a tax on digital giants, with parliament passing the legislation in defiance of a probe ordered by President Donald Trump that could trigger reprisal tariffs. The new law aims at plugging a taxation gap that has …
Read More »UAE shielding reputation with drawdown from Yemen ‘quagmire’: experts
Dubai, United Arab Emirates | AFP | A surprise UAE troop drawdown in war-torn Yemen aims to restore the Gulf country’s reputation, but may strain ties with key ally Saudi Arabia at a time of heightened tensions with Iran, experts say. “The political, reputational and operational risks Abu Dhabi incurred in …
Read More »Vatican to dig up graves in search for missing teen
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | The Vatican will dig up two graves Thursday after an anonymous tip-off that they may contain the remains of an Italian teenager who went missing 36 years ago. Emanuela Orlandi, the daughter of Vatican employee, was last seen leaving a music class aged 15, …
Read More »How has war affected Syria’s oil and gas sector?
Beirut, Lebanon | AFP | Syria’s eight-year war has seen the Damascus regime lose control of key oil fields and caused state hydrocarbon revenues to plummet by billions of dollars. Weak production has forced President Bashar al-Assad’s regime to import oil, but Western sanctions on Damascus and Tehran are hampering incoming …
Read More »Iraqi faces verdict in Germany’s ‘Susanna’ rape-murder trial
Wiesbaden, Germany | AFP | An Iraqi man faces his verdict in Germany Wednesday over the rape and murder of a teenage girl that fuelled far-right protests against a mass influx of mostly Muslim migrants. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and other extremists have seized on the brutal killing of …
Read More »Sweden rejects Chinese embezzlement extradition request
Stockholm, Sweden | AFP | Sweden’s top court on Tuesday rejected a Beijing extradition request for a Chinese man accused of economic crimes because of risks of persecution and the death penalty in China. Qiao Jianjun, a former official of the Chinese state grain administration, is wanted by Beijing under a …
Read More »A waste of good wine? Non! Spitting is essential to tasting
Paris, France | AFP | Spitting is frowned upon in polite society — unless of course the spitter is engaged in tasting wines. “It’s by spitting out the wine that you will be even more distinguished in society,” pleads Pierre-Jules Peyrat, a Paris sommelier. Holding forth before a rapt crowd at …
Read More »Deforestation + climate change = dead end for wildlife
Paris, France | AFP | Climate change combined with galloping tropical deforestation is cutting off wildlife from life-saving cooler climes, heightening the risk of extinction, researchers said Monday. Less than two-fifths of forests across Latin America, Asia and Africa currently allow for animals and plants to avoid potentially intolerable increases in …
Read More »Girls must be protected from sexual violence at school: UNICEF chief
Paris, France | AFP | Girls in developing countries must be protected from sexual violence in and around schools, the head of the UN’s children fund has said, urging governments to make it a top priority. Speaking to AFP on the sidelines of a G7 ministerial summit in Paris, UNICEF chief …
Read More »How conspiracy theories followed man to the Moon
Paris, France | AFP | It was the biggest piece of supposed fake news before the term “fake news” was even invented. Millions of people across the world still believe that no one has ever walked on the Moon, and that the images that NASA broadcast in July 1969 were shot …
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