Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP | Saudi Arabia is committed to stabilising the global oil market, the energy ministry of the world’s biggest oil exporter said on Tuesday, as prices fell below $48 a barrel. OPEC and non-OPEC countries last year pledged to reduce output by around 1.8 million barrels …
Read More »Women’s rights under assault worldwide: UN chief
United Nations, United States | AFP | Women’s rights are under fresh assault worldwide, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Monday as a two-week conference kicked off at the United Nations to take stock of the fight for gender equality. President Donald Trump’s “global gag rule” cutting US funding to groups that …
Read More »Carlos the Jackal on trial for 1974 Paris attack
Paris, France | AFP | Carlos the Jackal, the world’s most wanted fugitive in the 1970s and early 1980s, went on trial in France on Monday for the deadly bombing of a Paris shop more than 40 years ago. The 67-year-old convict cut a grizzled, thinner figure as he was …
Read More »Five of Israel’s largest tech deals
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | US giant Intel announced Monday it would buy Israeli car tech firm Mobileye for more than $15 billion (14 billion euros), the largest cross-border tech deal in the Jewish state’s history. Mobileye makes advanced driver assistance for car manufacturers, and has already collaborated with Intel and …
Read More »Scotland takes a step towards new independence vote
Edinburgh, United Kingdom | AFP | Scotland’s announcement on Monday that it will begin preparations for a new independence bid raised the spectre of one of Brexit’s most feared consequences — the break-up of the United Kingdom. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she would seek the semi-autonomous Scottish parliament’s authority …
Read More »Paris mayor to spend 1.5 million euros for ‘war on rats’
Paris, France | AFP | The mayor of Paris said Sunday the city would spend 1.5 million euros ($1.6 million) to rid the French capital of rats and install more public ashtrays to clean up the city’s streets. In an interview with Journal du Dimanche weekly, Mayor Anne Hidalgo unveiled a …
Read More »Turkey’s Erdogan compares Dutch rally ban to Nazism as row spirals
Istanbul, Turkey | AFP | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said a Dutch ban on his foreign minister’s visit was like Nazism, as tensions rocketed over rallies abroad to help Ankara gain backing for a key vote. His comments came after The Hague said it would refuse Foreign …
Read More »Trump fires prominent US prosecutor who refused order to quit
New York, United States | AFP | High-profile New York prosecutor Preet Bharara — who was among the federal attorneys asked to resign by the White House — was fired Saturday, he announced on Twitter. US President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday demanded the resignations of 46 US prosecutors appointed …
Read More »‘Ghosts’ drive Brazil’s president from residency
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | AFP | Brazil’s President Michel Temer blames bad vibes and even ghosts for driving him from his sumptuous official residence in the capital Brasilia, a Brazilian news weekly reported Saturday. Temer surprised Brazilian politics watchers this week with the revelation that he has decamped from the …
Read More »Pope considering Egypt trip
Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | The Vatican is examining the possibility of Pope Francis visiting Egypt, but no dates have been set, his spokesman said Saturday after Italian reports suggested the trip would happen in May. “A trip by the Holy Father to Egypt is under study but …
Read More »