Other News

Deere puts spotlight on high-tech farming

LAS VEGAS, United States (AFP) — It has GPS, lasers, computer vision, and uses machine learning and sensors to be more efficient. This is the new high-tech farm equipment from John Deere, which made its first Consumer Electronics Show appearance this week to highlight the importance of tech in farming. Deere brought its massive agricultural combine and GPS-guided tractor to the Las Vegas technology event, making the point that farming is more than sticking a […]

Djokovic and Halep top seeds at Australian Open

MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) — World number ones Novak Djokovic and Simona Halep were named top seeds on Thursday for next week’s Australian Open, with 23-time major winner Serena Williams lurking at 16 on the women’s side. Djokovic heads long-time rival Rafael Nadal and defending champion Roger Federer, with young-gun Alexander Zverev seeded four as he targets a maiden Grand Slam title. The Serbian world number one is aiming to make history by claiming a record […]

Kim expressed ‘concern’ over US, N. Korea ‘impasse’ to Xi: KCNA

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed “concern” about the deadlock in denuclearisation discussions in his talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Pyongyang’s state media reported Thursday. Kim “raised concern about the impasse created in the process of improving US-DPRK ties and in denuclearisation talks”, the official KCNA news agency said. Kim said Pyongyang’s “basic position of pursuing a peaceful resolution through dialogue remains unchanged”, it added. China is the […]

Saudi to slash oil exports after price slide: minister

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AFP) — OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia will slash its oil exports in January by 10 percent compared to November, its energy minister said Wednesday as producers move to shore up tumbling prices. Khalid al-Falih said the kingdom, the world’s top crude supplier, would cut its exports to 7.2 million barrels per day in January, down from 8.0 million bpd in November. He also announced a further 100,000 bpd cut in February. OPEC […]

Xi told Kim China hopes US, N. Korea ‘meet each other halfway’: Xinhua

by Laurent Thomet with Sunghee Hwang in Seoul Agence France Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — Chinese President Xi Jinping offered North Korean leader Kim Jong Un firm backing in deadlocked nuclear talks with the United States and reasserted Beijing’s key role in the wider process, according to the two allies’ state media Thursday. Kim visited Beijing by train this week for two days of talks with Xi seen as a strategy session ahead of a second […]

China-US trade hopes lift stocks as oil prices surge

by Roland JACKSON / John BIERS Agence France Presse NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Global stocks pushed higher Wednesday on renewed optimism over talks to resolve the China-US trade war, while oil prices surged after Saudi Arabia confirmed it was on track to trim crude exports. Europe’s major stock markets followed Asian exchanges higher, with Frankfurt and Paris both ending day 0.8 percent higher. London rose 0.7 percent. Wall Street also had a solid […]

Thunder’s Noel out of hospital after suffering concussion

LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Oklahoma City center Nerlens Noel was released from hospital Wednesday after suffering a concussion when he took an elbow to the head in an NBA game the night before. Noel was hit in the face by the arm of Andrew Wiggins as the Minnesota star drove to the basket for a dunk and crashed to the court in a frightening fall late in the third quarter. In an update […]

Australian police arrest man over suspect embassy packages

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australian police have arrested a 48-year-old man for allegedly sending dozens of suspicious packages to embassies and consulates around the country, officials said Thursday. Federal police said the man was arrested at his home in rural Victoria state late Wednesday, hours after several consulates in Melbourne received the suspicious packages. They alleged that the man had sent 38 parcels in all to consulates and embassies in Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney. Police […]

US detained over 50,000 illegal immigrants in December

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Illegal border crossings into the United States continued at a high pace in December, with more than 50,000 people detained for a third straight month as the number of families illegally entering surged, US Customs and Border Protection said Wednesday. With the US government in its third week of a shutdown as President Trump demands that Congress fund the construction of hundreds of miles of new wall on the border, […]

‘Repeating’ radio waves from deep space baffle scientists

by Marlowe HOOD Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Astronomers in Canada have detected a mysterious volley of radio waves from far outside our galaxy, according to two studies published Wednesday in Nature. What corner of the universe these powerful waves come from and the forces that produced them remain unknown. The so-called repeating fast radio bursts were identified during the trial run last summer of a built-for-purpose telescope running at only a fraction […]

Pompeo in reassurance mission to Iraq over US Syria pullout plans

by Francesco Fontemaggi Agence France Presse CAIRO, Egypt (AFP) — US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday Turkey had committed to protecting Washington’s Kurdish allies fighting jihadists, during a surprise visit to Iraq to soothe concerns over the US troop withdrawal from Syria. The remarks by US President Donald Trump’s top diplomat, on a whistle-stop tour of the Middle East, follow tensions between Washington and Ankara over the Kurds’ fate. Turkey reacted angrily to […]

‘Don’t panic,’ Mexico president says as fuel shortages spiral

by Jennifer GONZALEZ COVARRUBIAS Agence France Presse MEXICO CITY, Mexico (AFP) — President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador urged Mexicans Wednesday not to panic as gasoline shortages spread across the country, caused by a crackdown on fuel theft that risks backfiring badly. The president says the shortages were triggered by his administration’s decision to temporarily close some of state oil company Pemex’s pipelines — part of his bid to wipe out rampant fuel theft that cost […]