WORLD

Paris, France | AFP | European financial leaders on Tuesday vowed vigilance after Facebook announced it was diving into the cryptocurrency market, as analysts warned the social media giant could face major regulatory questions. French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, whose government initiated a new tax on digital giants like Facebook …

Paris, France | AFP | Smartphones are a product with which China has demonstrated not only its manufacturing prowess, but its ambitions to become a cutting-edge technology developer thanks to the rise of Huawei. The company is not just in the lead in developing equipment for fifth-generation networks, it has also …

Stockholm, Sweden | AFP | The overall number of nuclear warheads in the world has declined in the past year but nations are modernising their arsenals, a report published Monday said. At the start of 2019, the United States, Russia, Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea had a …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Facebook is set Tuesday to unveil a bid to bring cryptocurrency payments into the mainstream, reportedly with the endorsement of governments and financial giants. The world’s biggest social network is expected to outline details of a virtual currency launching next year that it hopes will …

Beijing, China | AFP | Xi Jinping will make the first trip to North Korea by a Chinese president in 14 years this week, state media said Monday, as Beijing tightens relations with Pyongyang amid tensions with the United States. Xi will visit Pyongyang on Thursday and Friday at the invitation …

Nasiriyah, Iraq | AFP |  Hospital ventilators shut down, football matches with obligatory water breaks and food spoiling in fridges without power: Iraq’s notorious summer has arrived. As one of the hottest countries in the world with around half of its terrain covered in desert, Iraq is no stranger to …

Hong Kong, China | AFP |  Young Hong Kongers who marshalled the fight against a police force that was armed with tear gas and rubber bullets have spoken of how they were pushed into embracing more confrontational tactics by the failure of years of peaceful protests. In a series of interviews …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | The six contenders vying to become Britain’s next prime minister held a leadership hustings on Saturday with rival candidates aiming their fire at frontrunner Boris Johnson. The men battling for the leadership of the governing centre-right Conservative Party spoke at a central London hotel ahead …

Mexico City, Mexico | AFP |  Mexico published the document Friday that US President Donald Trump fleetingly showed the press this week as evidence he had extracted tough new concessions on migration from the neighboring country. Trump theatrically waved the one-page document in front of reporters Tuesday, fending off critics who …

Taipei, Taiwan | AFP | Images of riot police battling protesters in Hong Kong this week have reverberated in nearby Taiwan where many recoil at what they fear could be their future if Beijing has its way. Taiwan has been a self-ruled de facto nation in charge of its own affairs …