Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP | Palestinians have the right to Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem as their capital, Saudi King Salman said Wednesday, echoing calls at an Islamic summit in Istanbul from which he had stayed away. “The kingdom has called for a political solution to resolve regional crises, foremost of which …
Read More »Trump: ‘I was right’ Moore could not win Alabama race
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump sought Wednesday to distance himself from an embarrassing defeat in Alabama, saying he had been right all along that Republican senate candidate Roy Moore could not win. The former judge faced damaging accusations he had preyed on teenage girls as a …
Read More »Trump signs US military defense bill worth nearly $700 bn
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald on Tuesday signed a massive defense policy bill that he said would help America bolster its military might and modernize the services. The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) calls for nearly $700 billion of military spending for the coming fiscal year, but Congress …
Read More »EU warns Britain against Brexit deal ‘backtracking’
Strasbourg, France | AFP | The EU on Tuesday warned Britain against “backtracking” as it rounded on a top minister for suggesting that London could back out of its Brexit divorce promises if it does not get a trade deal. Britain’s Brexit minister David Davis caused alarm by saying that a …
Read More »Chinese auto giant to end petrol vehicle sales by 2025
Beijing, China | AFP | One of China’s largest state-owned automakers has said it will phase out sales of all petrol vehicles by 2025, as Beijing considers taking all fuel-burning cars off the country’s roads. Beijing Automotive Group Co (BAIC) chairman Xu Heyi said over the weekend the company will phase …
Read More »Investors turn back on fossil fuels at Paris climate summit
Paris, France | AFP | Major investors vowed Tuesday to move away from Earth-warming fossil fuels as world leaders met in Paris seeking to unlock new cash to save humanity from climate “doom”. Two years to the day since 195 nations sealed the Paris Agreement to avert worst-case-scenario climate change, …
Read More »Trump tells NASA to send Americans to Moon
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump directed NASA on Monday to send Americans to the Moon for the first time since 1972, in order to prepare for future trips to Mars. “This time we will not only plant our flag and leave our footprint,” Trump said at …
Read More »In food waste fight, Brits turn bread into beer
Driffield, United Kingdom | AFP | At a brewery nestled in rolling farmland in northern England, the process of making beer begins with dropping dozens of unwanted loaf ends, thrown away by a sandwich factory, into a large stainless steel tank. Add water, hops and yeast, and out comes the unmistakable …
Read More »Tillerson: My failure if US resorts to force on North Korea
Washington, United States | AFP | Secretary of State Rex Tillerson expressed confidence Tuesday that Washington is doing all it can to force North Korea to negotiate its nuclear disarmament. And he added that if diplomacy and sanctions fail and the US military is forced to take pre-emptive action, it will …
Read More »Tasmanian tiger doomed long before humans came along
Sydney, Australia | AFP | The Tasmanian tiger was doomed long before humans began hunting the enigmatic marsupial, scientists said Tuesday, with DNA sequencing showing it was in poor genetic health for thousands of years before its extinction. Scientists genetically mapped the animal — also known as a thylacine — using …
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