Vienna, Austria | AFP | Austrians began voting Sunday in snap elections, in which the conservatives look set to triumph but face difficulties finding a partner to govern after a corruption scandal brought down their last coalition with the far-right. The People’s Party (OeVP) led by 33-year-old Sebastian Kurz is predicted to …
Read More »Bracing for Brexit: French food companies fear cost of ‘no deal’
Lillers, France | AFP | White smoke billows from a chimney at a sugar beet factory in northern France, where a tanker truck is filling up on the region’s “white gold”. As the sugar beet harvesting season enters full swing, the Lillers plant of the world’s third-biggest sugar producer Tereos is …
Read More »Trump told Russian officials he wasn’t concerned by interference in 2016 elections
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump told Russia’s foreign minister and ambassador that he was unconcerned about their country’s interference in the 2016 elections, The Washington Post reported Friday. Trump made the previously unreported comments during the same May 2017 Oval Office meeting in which he famously …
Read More »US newspaper sparks controversy by publishing details on whistleblower
New York, United States | AFP | Protecting a potentially vulnerable whistleblower versus the public’s need to know: a US newspaper’s publication of information on the man whose complaint led to an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump has sparked controversy and debate. After the release of a complaint accusing Trump of …
Read More »Pompeo subpoenaed as Democrats press Trump impeachment
Washington, United States | AFP | Democrats charged aggressively into an impeachment investigation of President Donald Trump on Friday, ordering Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to turn over Ukraine-related documents and scheduling testimony for witnesses to alleged abuse of power by the US leader. Three House committees gave Pompeo one week …
Read More »Scorsese and Netflix unveil ambitious new film “The Irishman”
New York, United States | AFP | Director Martin Scorsese unveiled his new film “The Irishman” Friday, kicking off the New York film festival with the ambitious Netflix movie that was more than a decade in the making. The star-studded gangster epic had a budget of $160 million, using 117 different …
Read More »Kenyan Chepngetich takes marathon gold as heat decimates rivals
Doha, Qatar | AFP | Kenya’s Ruth Chepngetich won the first title of the World Athletics Championships the women’s marathon in a gruelling race that saw many of the pre-race favourites fail to finish as fierce heat and humidity took their toll. The 25-year-old world number one timed 2hrs 32 …
Read More »White House accused of cover-up over Trump-Ukraine call
Washington, United States | AFP | The White House scrambled to “lock down” records of President Donald Trump’s phone call pressing for Ukraine’s interference in next year’s US election, an incendiary whistleblower complaint released Thursday alleged, in the latest episode of an intensifying impeachment drama. The complaint caps a stunning week …
Read More »Germany’s climate-stressed trees face ‘catastrophe’ as bugs attack
Welzow, Germany | AFP | Germany’s forests have long been treasured by its people, so the country has reacted with alarm and dismay as a beetle infestation has turned climate-stressed woodlands into brown ecological graveyards. After two unusually hot summers in a row, vast patches of the forests mythologised by …
Read More »Trump returns to White House and biggest crisis of presidency
Washington, United States | AFP | Donald Trump flew back to Washington on Thursday and into the biggest crisis of his tempestuous presidency, raging at enemies and talking darkly of a conspiracy. Trump’s three day trip to New York was meant to showcase his achievements in a speech to the United …
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