WORLD

Davos, Switzerland | AFP | Ebola, zika, SARS: a century after the “Spanish flu” killed 50 million people, humanity now risks a new wave of deadly diseases, and in today’s globalised world another such pandemic may be unavoidable, experts warned at the Davos summit this week. “Pandemics are becoming a …

Washington, United States | AFP |  US President Donald Trump ordered the firing of Russia investigation special prosecutor Robert Mueller last year but the White House counsel’s threatened resignation pushed him to reverse course, US media reported Thursday. Mueller is leading the probe into allegations of collusion between the US …

Washington, United States | AFP | Two decades ago this week US president Bill Clinton declared that he “did not have sexual relations with that woman.” As it turned out, he did — and he was impeached for lying about his trysts with Monica Lewinsky. Today, another US president is accused …

Hong Kong, China | AFP | The dollar took another beating on Thursday after two of Donald Trump’s top cabinet members talked down the currency and hinted at a more belligerent trade policy. The sell-off in the greenback especially hit exporters on Japan’s Nikkei index, which tumbled for a second straight …

Davos, Switzerland | AFP | French President Emmanuel Macron told the world’s business elite in Davos on Wednesday that France was back as a European powerhouse under his reformist government. “France is back at the core of Europe,” Macron said in English in a highly anticipated speech, before switching to French …

Lansing, United States | AFP | Disgraced former USA Gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison on Wednesday for sexually abusing scores of young girls under the guise of medical treatment. “I’ve just signed your death warrant,” Judge Rosemarie Aquilina said as she handed down …

Davos, Switzerland | AFP | Britain’s planned departure from the European Union is “a mistake, not a disaster”, former premier David Cameron said during a conversation caught on camera in Davos Wednesday. Cameron stepped back from frontline British politics in the wake of the historic 2016 referendum, but was caught airing …

Kirikhan, Turkey | AFP | President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday vowed to press Turkey’s offensive against a Kurdish militia in Syria until “the last terrorist” was killed, as the US ramped up its concerns over the campaign. Turkey on Saturday launched operation “Olive Branch” together with Syrian rebels and Turkish …

Jalalabad, Afghanistan | AFP | Save the Children suspended operations across Afghanistan on Wednesday as Islamic State militants terrorised staff trapped inside one of its offices in an hours-long attack, the latest assault on a foreign charity. Gunmen blasted their way into the British aid group’s compound in the eastern city …

Sydney, Australia | AFP | After years of futile efforts, a fresh hunt for MH370 has set off for the remote Indian Ocean — and the top Australian scientist who helped pinpoint the new search zone is hopeful the missing jet can be found within weeks. Armed with oceanographic analyses and …