Washington, United States | AFP | Tanks in the heart of Washington, fighter jets screaming overhead, and a speech from the Lincoln Memorial: President Donald Trump is promising the “show of a lifetime” as he prepares to turn the Fourth of July into a personal primetime extravaganza. The commander-in-chief and erstwhile …
Read More »Is Greece’s July 7 vote last stand for Tsipras?
Athens, Greece | AFP | Greeks vote on Sunday in a general election that is the first in the country’s post-bailout era, which looks set to oust leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras after a record-setting four years in power. Greece’s first avowed atheist and longest-serving crisis premier, as well as …
Read More »Rivals vying to lead post-bailout Greece
Athens, Greece | AFP | Greece is holding its first post-bailout general elections on Sunday after a campaign focused on middle-class tax complaints, the Macedonia name deal and security. Here are profiles of the two main contenders: – Tsipras: leftist austerity PM – On the back foot after four nearly …
Read More »Five things to know about Greece’s July 7 vote
Athens, Greece | AFP | Greeks head to the polls on Sunday in a snap ballot that could bring an end to Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’s leftist government. Here are five things to know about the vote, the third in Greece since May following European and local elections. – Greeks …
Read More »Trump move to ease Huawei sanctions sparks anger, confusion
Washington, United States | AFP | The US trade war truce with China which could ease sanctions on Huawei has prompted a backlash from lawmakers over national security concerns amid confusion over how the deal may impact the Chinese tech giant. In the weekend agreement with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping …
Read More »One in, one out: A tale of two Brexit MEPs
Dublin, Ireland | AFP | When the other new members of the European Parliament take their seats in Strasbourg on Tuesday, Barry Andrews will be sitting at home, unable to attend because of Brexit. Basking in the sun in Dublin, the 52-year-old Irish politician is on an unwanted holiday as he …
Read More »Cooler for parts of Europe, Spain battles wildfires
Paris, France | AFP | A welcome temperature drop came to western parts of Europe on Sunday, after almost a week-long heatwave, but hundreds of Spanish firefighters and soldiers continued to battle three major blazes. France too had to contend with fire in the south of the country — and some …
Read More »Iraq sets up ‘loophole’ in US sanctions to buy Iranian power
Baghdad, Iraq | AFP | Iraq is establishing a financial “loophole” to continue buying vital gas and electricity from Iran despite US sanctions, AFP has learned, mirroring a European mechanism that came into effect Friday. The “special purpose vehicle” (SPV) would allow Iraq to pay for imported Iranian energy in …
Read More »North Korea hails ‘historic’ Kim-Trump summit
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea on Monday hailed the weekend meeting between leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump in the Demilitarized Zone as “historic”, as analysts said Pyongyang was looking to shape the narrative to its own agenda. The two leaders agreed to “resume and …
Read More »Tensions high as Albania heads into disputed local polls
Tirana, Albania | AFP | Albania will on Sunday hold bitterly disputed municipal polls that have snowballed into a democratic crisis, with the opposition boycotting the vote and refusing to recognise its results. The tense election run-up has seen bouts of violence as opposition supporters attacked polling stations around the country …
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