Washington, United States | AFP | The White House on Friday said that Chinese leader Xi Jinping had agreed to keep up sanctions pressure on North Korea, amid fears a diplomatic gambit could lead to backsliding. After a call between Xi and President Donald Trump, the White House said the …
Read More »Obama in negotiations to create Netflix series: report
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Former US President Barack Obama is in negotiations with Netflix about producing a series of shows for the online streaming giant, according to US media reports. Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama would provide Netflix with exclusive content, with the format …
Read More »Macron warns Trump all sides would lose in ‘trade war’
Paris, France | AFP | French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday warned his US counterpart Donald Trump against forging ahead with planned tariffs on European steel and aluminium, saying it risked starting a mutually destructive “trade war”. In a telephone call with Trump, the French leader expressed his “deep concerns”, …
Read More »Italians queue for free cash promised by Five Star
Rome, Italy | AFP | Dozens of Italians have been queueing at tax offices to claim money promised by the anti-establishment Five Star Movement in the weekend election — even though the party is not yet in power. A key election pledge of the Five Star Movement (M5S) was to provide …
Read More »N.Korea talks invite vindicates isolation strategy: Pence
Washington, United States | AFP | Kim Jong Un’s decision to invite Donald Trump to a historic summit is evidence that the American leader’s efforts to isolate his North Korean counterpart are bearing fruit, US Vice President Mike Pence said Friday. “North Korea’s desire to meet to discuss denuclearization — while …
Read More »Philippine president needs ‘psychiatric evaluation’: UN rights chief
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The UN human rights chief said Friday that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who has launched profanity-laced diatribes against United Nations rapporteurs, needs “psychiatric evaluation”. Listing some of Manila’s actions against UN envoys, including filing terrorism charges against one, rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said …
Read More »Twitter-blocked by Trump? Judge hears ‘free-speech’ case
New York, United States | AFP | A New York judge sought to avoid a testy tech-age free-speech showdown between Donald Trump and people blocked from his Twitter account Thursday, proposing the president just mute rather than block them. In a unique case given rise by Trump’s relentless use of …
Read More »China says US tariffs ‘a serious attack’ on global trade system
Beijing, China | AFP | China on Friday denounced US tariffs on aluminium and steel imports, saying that they would profoundly harm the international trade environment. The US’s “abuse” of national security concerns as a reason for implementing the measures will lead to “a serious attack on normal international trade …
Read More »Spanish flu: more deadly than World War I
Paris, France | AFP | The Spanish flu outbreak 100 years ago is the modern world’s deadliest epidemic, its toll of more than 50 million surpassing that of World War I. Here is some background. – Why ‘Spanish flu’? – Countries caught up in the 1914-1918 war censored information about …
Read More »‘Dotard’ Trump and Kim ‘Rocket Man’ Jong Un to meet: what happens next?
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | The stunning announcement that US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will hold an unprecedented meeting is the latest and most astonishing step forward in a flurry of diplomacy. The two and their respective allies fought each other to a …
Read More »