Tag: United States

Putin himself involved in US election hack: report

WASHINTON, United States (AFP) — US intelligence officials now believe that Russian President Vladimir Putin was personally involved in hacking during the American election campaign as part of a vendetta against Hillary Clinton, NBC News reported late Wednesday. Putin personally instructed how material hacked from US Democrats was leaked and otherwise used, the US television network said, quoting two senior officials with access to this information. The officials said they have a “high level of […]

Continue Reading →

Aleppo challenges Obama’s legacy

by Andrew Beatty WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The months-long siege of Aleppo is almost over, but the political postmortem is just beginning and Barack Obama’s role is firmly on the slab. “The United States did have countless opportunities to mitigate and prevent slaughter. But time and again, decent men and women chose to look away. We have all been bystanders to genocide. The crucial question is why.” Those were the words, a decade and […]

Continue Reading →

US warns ‘aggressive’ Beijing in South China Sea

SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — The United States will keep challenging Beijing’s “assertive, aggressive behavior in the South China Sea”, the US Pacific commander said Wednesday, as tensions between two powers rise over comments by Donald Trump. Admiral Harry Harris, head of the US Pacific Command, warned Washington would not accept Chinese control of the region, despite Beijing’s rapid development of artificial islands capable of hosting military planes. He remarks come as Beijing reacted angrily after […]

Continue Reading →

Criticizing Trump, W.House says Taiwan ‘not a bargaining chip’

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Barack Obama’s White House on Monday took aim at Donald Trump’s recent comments on Taiwan, saying the long-standing alliance should not be used as a “bargaining chip” with Beijing. “Taiwan is not a source of leverage, it’s a close partner of the United States,” said White House spokesman Josh Earnest, in an unusually direct criticism of Trump’s remarks. Earnest’s comments come after the president-elect suggested he could jettison Washington’s […]

Continue Reading →

Kremlin blames lack of US cooperation for Palmyra blow

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — The Kremlin on Monday deplored the lack of cooperation with the United States in Palmyra after Islamic State jihadists re-entered the ancient Syrian city over the weekend. “We regret that we have yet to completely neutralize their offensive,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said of the fighters’ return to the fabled city after an eight-month absence. “We also regret that there still is a lack of coordinated action and real cooperation with […]

Continue Reading →

Memorable quotes from John Glenn

WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — John Glenn, who died Thursday at age 95, was the last survivor among the group of astronauts known as the “Mercury 7,” who led the pioneering first American space program in 1959. The legendary astronaut and veteran of two wars went on to become a symbol of the space age, as well as serving two decades as a US senator. Here are some of his most memorable quotes: – “Zero […]

Continue Reading →

75 years ago, Pearl Harbor attack brought US into WWII

PARIS, France (AFP) — The December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor triggered the United States to join its European allies in World War II. With Prime Minister Shinzo Abe due later this month to become the first Japanese leader to visit Pearl Harbor, AFP looks at the sequence of events that led to the US changing the course of the war. Japanese expansionism Japan’s policy of territorial expansionism, launched in the late 19th […]

Continue Reading →

Chinese media offer stern warning to ‘rookie’ Trump

BEIJING, China (AFP) — Donald Trump is a “diplomatic rookie” who must learn not to cross Beijing on issues like trade and Taiwan, Chinese state media said Tuesday, warning America could pay dearly for his inexperience. A protocol-shattering call with Taiwan’s president followed by a Twitter tirade against Beijing’s policies by the president-elect could risk upending the delicate balance between the world’s two largest economies, Chinese editorials in major media outlets said. “Provoking friction and […]

Continue Reading →

Abe to make first Pearl Harbor visit by Japan leader

by Natsuko FUKUE TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is to become the first Japanese leader to visit Pearl Harbor, announcing Monday a trip to the site of his country’s surprise attack that launched World War II in the Pacific. News of the journey comes just two days ahead of the 75th anniversary of the deadly December 7, 1941 assault on the US naval base in Hawaii. The war ended in August 1945 […]

Continue Reading →

Trump says Philippines fighting drugs ‘the right way’ in phone call with Duterte

  US President-elect Donald Trump told Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte that Manila was conducting its deadly drug war “the right way”, Duterte said Saturday, in stark contrast to the criticism he received from President Barack Obama. The Philippine president called Trump late Friday evening to congratulate him on his election victory with Trump wishing him “success” in his controversial anti-crime crackdown, in which some 4,800 people have been killed since June, according to Duterte. “He […]

Continue Reading →

Trump threatens to ‘terminate’ US-Cuba thaw

by Michael Mathes WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President-elect Donald Trump on Monday threatened to end the US thaw with Cuba unless Havana makes key concessions, potentially upending the historic rapprochement engineered by the White House, which insists the opening serves American interests. Trump’s tough comments sparked a flurry of speculation about the incoming Republican administration’s policies regarding the communist-ruled island, and come after former leader Fidel Castro’s death Friday. “If Cuba is unwilling to […]

Continue Reading →

Bakersfield — a California town firmly in Trumpland

by Veronique DUPONT Bakersfield, United States (AFP)- Though just a few hours by road from California’s progressive bastions of Los Angeles or San Francisco, Bakersfield is a world away from Tinseltown or Silicon Valley and firmly in Trumpland. In this town, 54 percent of the population voted for Donald Trump and only 39 percent backed his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton though she won two thirds of the overall vote in California. “I voted for Donald Trump […]

Continue Reading →
1 … 34 35 36 37 38 … 64