Sydney, Australia | AFP | British royals Harry and Meghan received baby gifts, met a koala couple and posed in front of Sydney’s dazzling Opera House Tuesday, on their first public outing since announcing they are to become parents. The happy prince and his US-born wife laughed as they were …
Read More »King steps in as Riyadh defends itself in Khashoggi case
Dubai, United Arab Emirates | AFP | Saudi King Salman has begun weighing in to try to defuse the growing crisis over missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi, as the kingdom goes on the offensive triggering a fierce online media campaign. In a phone call with US President Donald Trump on Monday, …
Read More »Israel’s Netanyahu threatens Hamas with ‘very strong blows’
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday threatened to inflict “very strong blows” on Hamas after fresh violence along the border with the Gaza Strip controlled by the Islamist group. “Hamas has apparently not understood the message — if these attacks do not stop, they will …
Read More »Trump says Mattis ‘could be’ leaving as US defense chief
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump said in an interview airing Sunday that Defense Secretary Jim Mattis “could be” leaving, referring to him as “sort of a Democrat.” Mattis, seen as one of the steadiest but also more independent members of Trump’s cabinet, has served as a …
Read More »Lewinsky affair not an abuse of power, says Hillary Clinton
Washington, United States | AFP | Hillary Clinton has said her husband Bill’s affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky was not an abuse of power and he was right to not resign from the US presidency in the wake of the scandal. The two-decades old episode has …
Read More »Merkel’s Bavarian allies suffer historic election losses
Munich, Germany | AFP | German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative CSU allies suffered historic losses in Bavaria state elections Sunday, dealing a blow to her fragile three-party coalition government. The Christian Social Union (CSU) scored 37 percent, a steep 10-point drop from four years ago in the wealthy Alpine state it …
Read More »China bemoans ‘confusing’ US signals but holds hope for a Trump-Xi meet
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will “probably” meet at a G20 summit next month, a US official said Sunday, as both sides seek answers for a badly strained relationship that a Chinese official called “very confusing.” “The presidents will probably meet …
Read More »US Air Force optimistic on hurricane-hit fighter jets
Washington, United States | AFP | The United States Air Force said Sunday that a group of F-22 stealth fighters left behind at a base to ride out Hurricane Michael were intact but it was too soon to say whether all of them would fly again. Tyndall Air Force Base in …
Read More »Erdogan, Saudi king discuss case of missing journalist: Turkish presidency
Ankara, Turkey | AFP | Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Saudi King Salman on Sunday discussed the case of missing journalist Jamal Khashoggi in their first telephone talks on the controversy, both sides said. Erdogan and Salman discussed “the issue of shedding light on the case of Jamal Khashoggi” …
Read More »Children drowning in ‘digital diet of pizza and sweets’
Cannes, France | AFP | Children are being swamping by the visual equivalent of “pizza and sweets” in “a digital Wild Wild West”, some of the world’s top kids television programme makers have warned. With YouTube replacing Disney as the most-loved brand among young children in the US, and streaming giants …
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