WORLD

Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea may be preparing for a missile or space launch, US news outlet NPR has reported, based on satellite image analysis of a key facility near Pyongyang. NPR said the images of Sanumdong, one of the facilities Pyongyang has used to produce inter-continental ballistic …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Nearly a third of Britain’s billionaires have either moved or are relocating to tax havens, where some have broken UK law by bankrolling political parties, a major investigation said on Thursday. The Times newspaper published a series of reports detailing allegations of Britain’s ultra-rich …

Paris, France | AFP | Massive electricity blackouts, like the one which ground much of Venezuela to a halt on Friday, have struck several times around the world since the beginning of the 21st century. – Latin America – Venezuela previously experienced a power outage on September 3, 2013, which …

Shenzhen, China | AFP | Tech giant Huawei on Thursday opened a legal front in its counter-offensive against US warnings that it could aid Chinese intelligence services, filing suit to overturn a US law that bars federal agencies from buying its products. Huawei said the case was filed in a US …

Grimsby, United Kingdom | AFP | Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday called on the European Union for “one more push” to strike a Brexit compromise deal and told MPs that rejecting the agreement could mean Britain never leaves. “It needs just one more push,” May told an audience of workers …

Paris, France | AFP | Between distractions, diversions and the flickering allure of a random suggestion, the major computer platforms aim to keep us glued to our screens come what may. Now some think it is time to escape the tyranny of the digital age. Everyone staring for hours at …

Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump urged Republican party rebels on Wednesday not to support Democrats voting to scrap his invocation of emergency powers for funding US-Mexico border wall construction. “STAY UNITED!” Trump tweeted ahead of a Senate vote in which four Republicans are expected to break ranks …

San Francisco, United States | AFP | Facebook is moving away from being a “digital town square” to meet growing demands for secure, private messaging on a smaller scale, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said Wednesday as he outlined a broad vision for transforming the world’s biggest social network. Zuckerberg’s announcement signals a strategic shift for …

Rome, Italy | AFP |  Pope Francis denounced the deceptiveness of “the culture of appearance” in a ceremony marking Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, the 40-day period before Easter when Catholics traditionally fast. “Earthly realities fade away like dust in the wind,” said the pope at the Basilica …

Caracas, Venezuela | AFP | Sanctions have worsened Venezuela’s crippling economic and political crisis, the UN human rights chief said Wednesday, as Washington warned it may expand measures targeting President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist government. UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet said sanctions had exacerbated the crisis but also slammed Maduro’s “violations of civil and political rights” …