Buenos Aires, Argentina | AFP | International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde cautioned the United States against putting up barriers to trade in an interview published Sunday. “Trade wars leave no winners,” she said in the interview with Argentine daily La Nacion, responding to a question about President Donald Trump’s …
Read More »Putin storms to landslide election win
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Vladimir Putin on Sunday stormed to victory in Russia’s presidential election on Sunday, giving him another six years in power as Moscow’s relations with the West plunge to new Cold War lows. Putin, who has ruled Russia for almost two decades, won more than 75 …
Read More »Philippines’ Duterte urges other nations to quit ICC
Manila , Philippines | AFP | Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday urged other nations to follow his move to quit the International Criminal Court, which is examining his deadly drug war. Duterte lashed out at the war crimes tribunal days after his government notified the United Nations of his …
Read More »Trump attacks FBI as his lawyer calls for end to Russia probe
Washington, United States | AFP | Donald Trump slammed the FBI as he hailed the firing of a veteran Bureau agent as a “great day for democracy,” a move his attorney said he hoped would bring an end to a probe into alleged collusion between the president’s campaign and Russia. …
Read More »Putin eyes fourth term as Russians go to polls
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russians voted Sunday in an election set to hand President Vladimir Putin a fourth Kremlin term, as the country is embroiled in a crisis with Britain and its allies over a spy poisoning. With the vast country stretching across 11 time zones, polls opened in …
Read More »Facebook suspends Trump campaign data firm Cambridge Analytica
Washington, United States | AFP | Facebook says it has suspended the account of Cambridge Analytica, the data analysis firm that helped Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, for failing to delete user data. Also suspended were the accounts of its parent organization, Strategic Communication Laboratories, as well as those of …
Read More »Trump lawyer claims porn star liable for $20 million
Los Angeles, United States | AFP | Donald Trump’s lawyer claims porn actress Stormy Daniels is liable for at least $20 million for violating a nondisclosure agreement she says prevents her from discussing an affair with the president, according to a Friday court filing. A lawyer for Michael Cohen’s Essential …
Read More »Xi gets second term with powerful ally as VP
Beijing, China | AFP | China’s rubber-stamp parliament unanimously handed President Xi Jinping a second term Saturday and elevated his right-hand man to the vice presidency, giving him a strong ally to consolidate power and handle US trade threats. Xi’s reappointment by the Communist Party-controlled legislature was a foregone conclusion, but …
Read More »World water problems on tap at Brazil conference
Brasília, Brazil | AFP | Brazil — the country with the world’s greatest fresh water reserves — hosts an international conference next week on growing fears over the fragility of drinking water supplies in a heating planet. Under the slogan “sharing water,” the 8th World Water Forum will bring together …
Read More »Rohingya returnees won’t be kept in camps ‘forever’: Myanmar official
Maungdaw, Myanmar | AFP | A Myanmar official in Rakhine state said Saturday that Rohingya refugees who return will not be held in newly-built camps “forever,” as concerns mount over a vexed repatriation process. Ye Htut, the administrator of Maungdaw district, was speaking to reporters on a government-chaperoned trip to …
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