WORLD

Los Angeles, United States | AFP |  Would-be cigarette smokers in the US state of Hawaii might have to wait a very long time for their first legal drag, after a lawmaker introduced a bill that would bar sales to anyone under the age of 100. The proposed law, introduced …

Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump has indicated he could declare a national emergency in order to force the construction of hundreds of miles of border wall to prevent migrants from crossing into the United States illegally from Mexico. Trump is frustrated by the continuing high level of migrants, mostly from Central …

Washington, United States | AFP | The US Senate approved by a large majority Monday an amendment critical of President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw troops from Syria and Afghanistan, in a sign of the deep discontent caused by the policies within his own Republican ranks. The resolution was sponsored by the Republican leader of …

San Francisco, United States | AFP | Mark Zuckerberg said Monday he sees Facebook as a largely “positive” force for society as the embattled social network marked its 15th anniversary. Even as Facebook is facing a wave of criticism over issues of manipulation, misinformation, abuse and other social ills, Zuckerberg said it would be a …

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | AFP | Pope Francis and a top Muslim cleric Monday issued a joint call for freedom of belief during the first visit by the head of the Catholic church to the birthplace of Islam — the Arabian Peninsula. Francis, who has made outreach to Muslim communities a cornerstone of …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | The pound dropped Monday following weak UK construction data and as Prime Minister Theresa May seeks to try and finally unlock the Brexit stalemate. London’s benchmark FTSE 100 index, featuring large multinationals earning in dollars and euros, climbed to a two-month high above 7,000 points thanks to the weaker …

Paris, France | AFP | A sharp increase in the rate of obesity-linked cancers among young adults in the United States could foreshadow a reversal in the overall decline in cancer mortality, researchers warned Monday. In a sweeping study covering two-thirds of the US population, they showed that half a dozen …

Paris, France | AFP | “Unfounded rumours” causing people to spurn the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine was preventing the elimination of cervical cancer, which kills more than 300,000 women every year, health authorities said Monday. To mark World Cancer Day 2019, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) issued a …

  United Nations, United States | AFP | There’s Ojibwe in Canada, Ami in Australia and Ayapanec in Mexico: these are among the world’s nearly 2,700 indigenous languages at risk of disappearing unless new initiatives are taken to revive them, UN officials say. The United Nations is hoping to raise awareness …

Washington, United States | AFP | Forty years ago, hip-hop was little known outside its birthplace, New York — until the Sugarhill Gang decided to record their rhymes, launching the genre’s rise as a dominant cultural and commercial force. The result was the group’s 1979 smash “Rapper’s Delight” — which is …