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 …
Read More »Music by the numbers: scientists reveal a secret to great song writing
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 …
Read More »US diplomat: Trump pressure on Ukraine harmful to rule of law
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 …
Read More »In bear country Romania, cohabitation grows strenuous
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 …
Read More »Documents show Facebook controlling competitors with user data: report
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 …
Read More »Trump says talks on controversial Nile dam ‘went well’
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 …
Read More »Britain’s Johnson launches election campaign on opposition turf
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 …
Read More »Milking it: investors hope Qatar’s desert dairy will be cash cow
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, …
Read More »Rebuke for Trump in races seen as barometers for 2020 election
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump and his Republican allies suffered stinging defeats Tuesday as Democrats were projected to win closely-watched elections in two states, results that signal troubling headwinds for his 2020 re-election campaign. The Republican Governor Matt Bevin in deep-red Kentucky was ousted by his …
Read More »Nigerian ‘sex slavery’ ring goes on trial in France
Lyon, France | AFP | Twenty-four suspected members of a sex trafficking ring accused of forcing Nigerian women into prostitution in France go on trial Wednesday, the latest case to highlight the growing use of Nigerian migrants as sex slaves in Europe. Nigeria was the main country of origin of the …
Read More »