Paris, France | AFP | At the sharp end of conflict in Syria, in a schoolchild’s bag in Kenya, whether fighting deadly diseases or studying forestry, the smartphone has become ubiquitous in just over a decade. This year, the number of users is expected to pass three billion, and AFP …
Read More »Pneumonia to kill nearly 11 mn children by 2030, study warns
Paris, France | AFP | Pneumonia will kill nearly 11 million children under five by 2030, experts warned Monday on a global day aimed at raising awareness of the biggest infectious killer of infants worldwide. While in the developed world the severe lung infection mainly affects the elderly, in developing …
Read More »Macron, Merkel, UN chief target Trump’s world view
Paris, France | AFP | French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and UN chief Antonio Guterres took turns in warning about the dangers of nationalism on Sunday as they marked the centenary of the end of World War I. Without mentioning US President Donald Trump by name, all …
Read More »Major oil producers to consider cuts after price slide
Dubai, United Arab Emirates | AFP | Major oil producers meet in Abu Dhabi on Sunday to consider reverting to output cuts after a sharp slide in crude prices revived fears of a 2014-style crash. Oil prices shed a fifth of their value in just one month after surging to …
Read More »World leaders mark 100 years since WWI Armistice in Paris
Paris, France | AFP | World leaders gathered in Paris will lead global commemorations on Sunday to mark 100 years since the end of World War I at a time of growing nationalism and diplomatic tensions. Around 70 leaders including US and Russian Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will …
Read More »Trump in Paris slams Macron’s ‘insulting’ EU army proposals
Paris, France | AFP | US President Donald Trump on Friday blasted calls by Emmanuel Macron for a European army to defend against threats from powers including the US as “very insulting”, setting a combative tone for his World War I commemorative visit to Paris. No sooner had Trump touched …
Read More »Facebook stops requiring arbitration of sexual harassment claims
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Facebook on Friday said it will no longer require employees to resolve sexual harassment claims via arbitration, mirroring a move by Google. The change of workplace rules at the world’s leading social network will allow complaints of such improprieties to be aired openly …
Read More »Five die in California wildfires, 150,000 forced to flee
Paradise, United States | AFP | Five people were declared dead and 150,000 evacuated Friday as fierce wildfires raged across the western US state of California, with one rapidly spreading blaze threatening the famed resort of Malibu. The victims died in their vehicles trying to escape a massive late-season inferno …
Read More »US names new envoy for Africa’s Great Lakes
Washington, United States | AFP | Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Friday named a scholar who once called for the disintegration of the Democratic Republic of Congo as the new US envoy to Africa’s Great Lakes region, tasked with encouraging stability in the conflict-ridden area. J. Peter Pham, now …
Read More »Michelle Obama slams Trump in new book
Washington, United States | AFP | Former US first lady Michelle Obama says she can “never forgive” Donald Trump for questioning her husband’s American citizenship, saying the president and other “birthers” put her family at risk, in her hotly anticipated new memoir. Obama also says she was surprised that so …
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