Francfort, Germany | AFP | Volkswagen unveiled the newest incarnation of its iconic Golf hatchback on Thursday, counting on the bestseller to help fund a costly switch to the electric era and bridge the gap to the cars of the future. The eighth generation of the unglamourous but trusted …
Read More »Russian soft power on display at Africa summit
Sochi, Russia | AFP | Aboubakary Guiro, a financial expert from Ivory Coast, is full of hope after attending the first ever Russia-Africa summit this week in the Black Sea resort of Sochi. “We forget about Russians when we talk business,” said Guiro, the co-partner of a financial advisory …
Read More »‘It’s the jungle’: Bosnian migrant camp in crisis
Bihac, Bosnia and Herzegovina | AFP | No running water, putrid portable toilets and surrounding woods littered with land mines — these are the bleak conditions of a camp where hundreds of migrants brace for winter in Bosnia. “It’s the jungle,” says Mohammad Nawaz, a 30-year-old Pakistani living in the tent-city built …
Read More »Republicans storm secure impeachment deposition, delay testimony
Washington, United States | AFP | Furious about being left out of the Donald Trump impeachment process, US congressional Republicans stormed a closed-door witness deposition and refused to leave for several hours in an escalation of the showdown over the investigation of the president. More than two dozen lawmakers barged into …
Read More »Boeing 737 MAX flight control system key factor in Lion Air crash
Jakarta, Indonesia | AFP | Mechanical and design problems with a Boeing 737 MAX flight control system were key factors in the crash of a Lion Air jet last year, Indonesian investigators told victims’ families in a briefing on their findings Wednesday. But some grieving relatives expressed anger that investigators were …
Read More »British PM could target election as EU mulls Brexit extension
London, United Kingdom | AFP | British Prime Minister Boris Johnson could pivot towards a general election as the EU mulls granting a Brexit deadline extension on Wednesday, after a fresh twist to the divorce saga cast doubt over his hopes of leaving on October 31. In tense parliamentary votes on …
Read More »Row over plans to move Greek antiquities from construction site
Thessaloniki, Greece | AFP | Opposition politicians, archaeologists and locals have denounced Greek government plans to displace the fragile remnants of an ancient city district unearthed during work on a subway tunnel in Thessaloniki. Experts say the early Byzantine site, which includes the city’s main 6th-century highway, ancient buildings and hundreds …
Read More »Social media app TikTok removes Islamic State propaganda videos
Beijing, China | AFP | Social media app TikTok has taken down accounts that were posting propaganda videos for the Islamic State group, a company employee said Tuesday, in the latest scandal to hit the popular platform. TikTok, which is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, claimed some 500 million users globally …
Read More »Video stars: Russian child bloggers score millions of ‘likes’
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Liza Anokhina was 11 when people started recognising her in the street. Now a year older, she is one of Russia’s most popular child bloggers with 2.3 million followers on Instagram. In a Moscow park, her producer jogs backwards, using his phone to film as …
Read More »Does the 737 MAX crisis threaten Boeing’s future?
New York, United States | AFP | Seven months after the 737 MAX was grounded, Boeing remains stuck in crisis mode. Revelations from recently-released text messages between two Boeing pilots add to questions facing the aviation giant. Uncertainty continues to cloud Boeing’s timeframe for returning the MAX to service. The accident …
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