Tag: politics

Trump to announce China trade sanctions on Thursday

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump is poised to unveil sanctions against China for the “theft” of US intellectual property Thursday, a White House official said, teeing up a second potential trade war in as many months. Spokesman Raj Shah told AFP that Trump will announce actions following an “investigation into China’s state-led, market-distorting efforts to force, pressure, and steal US technologies and intellectual property.” Beijing has already warned the Trump administration against the move, urging […]

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Myanmar president and Suu Kyi confidant Htin Kyaw resigns

  by Richard Sargent Agence France Presse YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — Myanmar’s President Htin Kyaw resigned suddenly on Wednesday leaving the country’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi without a close confidant and political ally as she faces rising international opprobrium over the Rakhine crisis. The president, an old school friend of Suu Kyi, served as her proxy in an office she was barred from occupying under Myanmar’s military-drafted constitution. His role was largely […]

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Trump congratulates Putin, summit on cards

    by Anna Smolchenko / with Michael Mathes in Washington © Agence France-Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — US President Donald Trump congratulated Vladimir Putin Tuesday on his re-election, as the leaders raised the prospect of a summit in the near future — while sidestepping both the issue of election meddling and a spy attack that has rocked Moscow’s relations with the West. Trump told reporters at the White House he had spoken with Putin, two […]

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UK firm in Facebook row suspends CEO amid fresh revelations

by Alice Ritchie © Agence France-Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Cambridge Analytica, the British firm at the centre of a major scandal rocking Facebook, suspended its chief executive Alexander Nix Tuesday, as he became embroiled in fresh controversy and lawmakers on both sides of the Atlantic demanded answers over the data breach. Recordings of Nix emerged Tuesday evening in which he boasts about the company’s expansive role in Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, claiming it did […]

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Facebook rocked by data breach scandal as investigations loom

by Rob Lever © Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Facebook shares plunged Monday as the social media giant faced an onslaught of criticism at home and abroad over revelations that a firm working for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign harvested and misused data on 50 million members. Calls for investigations came on both sides of the Atlantic after Facebook responded to the explosive reports of misuse of its data by suspending the account of Cambridge […]

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China widens Xi’s corruption crackdown

  by Ryan Mcmorrow © Agence France-Presse BEIJING, China (AFP) — Millions of Chinese public sector workers will be exposed to the harsh policing tactics of the Communist Party as President Xi Jinping brings his corruption crackdown to China’s sprawling bureaucracy. The campaign to clean up the party’s pervasive corruption has arguably been Xi’s most popular initiative, pressuring its 89 million members to toe the line — with more than 1.5 million officials punished in the […]

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Russia votes with strongman Putin set for fourth term

by Theo Merz © Agence France-Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russians headed to the polls Sunday in elections set to hand President Vladimir Putin a historic fourth Kremlin term, as the country faces increasing isolation over a spy poisoning in Britain and a fresh round of US sanctions. With the vast country stretching across 11 time zones, polls opened in the Russian far east at 2000 GMT on Saturday and will close in Kaliningrad, the country’s […]

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Hillary Clinton fractures hand on India trip

  NEW DELHI, India (AFP) — Hillary Clinton has fractured her hand during a tour of India, reportedly slipping in a bathtub at a luxury hotel in a former palace. A doctor at the private Goyal Hospital told AFP Friday that Clinton had undergone screening after suffering pain in her right hand following a fall. The 70-year-old former presidential candidate was staying at Umaid Bhawan, the palace of the former royal family of Jodhpur in […]

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Thousands of Brazilians mourn slain Rio councillor, rights activist

by Sebastian  Smith and Carola Sole © Agence France-Presse RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Thousands of Brazilians took to the streets Thursday to mourn a Rio de Janeiro councilwoman and outspoken critic of police brutality in majority black neighborhoods who was shot in an assassination-style killing. About 10,000 people marched to the Rio state assembly, with more arriving after work, to protest the slaying of Marielle Franco, 38 a day before. Many wore black and chanted […]

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US hits Russia with sanctions for election meddling

by Andrew Beatty © Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Donald Trump’s administration levied sanctions against Russia’s top spy agencies and more than a dozen individuals Thursday for trying to influence the 2016 US presidential election and two separate cyberattacks. The announcement follows a lengthy delay, which had caused anger on Capitol Hill and raised questions about President Donald Trump’s willingness to confront Moscow. The measures target five entities and 19 individuals — including the […]

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Indonesia battles fake news as elections loom

  by Harry Pearl © Agence France-Presse JAKARTA, Indonesia (AFP) — Indonesia is battling a wave of fake news and online hate speech ahead of presidential elections in 2019, as a string of arrests underscore fears it could crack open social and religious fault lines in the world’s largest Muslim-majority country. The pluralist nation’s reputation as a bastion of tolerance has been tested in recent months, as conservative groups exploit social media to spread lies and […]

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China hopes Tillerson firing won’t affect N. Korea talks

BEIJING, China (AFP) — China voiced hope on Wednesday Donald Trump’s sudden firing of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will not impact bilateral relations or planned talks between the US president and North Korea’s leader. Beijing is believed to have a positive assessment of Tillerson, who was seen as a light touch in contrast to Trump’s “good cop, bad cop” routine of slamming Beijing on Twitter while simultaneously flattering its leadership in person. “We hope […]

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