WORLD

Washington, United States | AFP | Fancy yourself a coffee connoisseur with a love for dark roasts? Or maybe hoppy pale ales are more your thing? The truth may be that our preferences for caffeine or alcoholic beverages  — or indeed sugary sodas —  derive not so much from the way …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Energy giant Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday said its net profit edged higher to $6 billion in the first quarter, with gains capped by cooler oil prices and a dip in production. Profit after tax climbed two percent compared with the first three months …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday sacked Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson following a probe into the leak of news that Britain had conditionally allowed China’s Huawei to develop its 5G network. “The Prime Minister has asked Gavin Williamson to leave the government, having lost …

San José, United States | AFP | Got a crush on another Facebook user? The social network will help you connect, as part of a revamp unveiled Tuesday that aims to foster real-world relationships and make the platform a more intimate place for small groups of friends. Changes coming to the …

Baghdad, Iraq | AFP | Islamic State group chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who purportedly appeared for the first time in five years in an IS propaganda video released Monday, remains the world’s most wanted man, despite the jihadists’ “caliphate” imploding weeks ago. After declaring himself caliph in 2014, Baghdadi held sway …

  Chicago, United States | AFP | Boeing executives successfully beat back shareholder challenges to their authority on Monday as the company signaled it expects regulators to take a key step next week in the effort to get the 737 MAX back in the air following two deadly crashes. The aerospace …

Naubatpur , India | AFP | Reena Devi says her life changed when she got a cooking gas connection under a billion-dollar programme championed by India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, meaning she no longer has to cook with wood or coal and breathe in smelly, toxic fumes. But the programme …

  Stockholm, Sweden | AFP | US military spending has risen for the first time in seven years, reflecting Trump administration policy, according to a new report released Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Worldwide military spending also rose by 2.6 percent to $1.8 trillion overall last year, …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Britain’s splintered government was rocked Friday by a burgeoning scandal over who leaked news that Prime Minister Theresa May has conditionally allowed China’s Huawei to develop the UK 5G network. The bitterly disputed decision was reportedly made at a Tuesday meeting of Britain’s National Security …

New York, United States | AFP | American Airlines slashed its profit forecast Friday largely due to the crisis around the Boeing 737 MAX, a somewhat more profound hit to operations and customer bookings than at other carriers affected by the jet’s grounding. The US carrier estimated an overall hit of …