By Ines Bel Aiba with Frankie Taggart in Washington CHARLESTON, United States, Feb 25, 2024 (AFP) – Donald Trump cruised to a decisive victory Saturday in the South Carolina Republican primary, blitzing rival Nikki Haley in her home state and continuing his march to the nomination and a White House rematch with Joe Biden. Trump completed a sweep of the first four major nominating contests, converting a year of blockbuster polls into a likely insurmountable […]
Tag: US
Digital Markets Act: Tech titans yield to new EU rules before March deadline
BRUSSELS, Belgium, Feb 23, 2024 (AFP) – 2024 will be a year of change for the world’s biggest tech companies as they bow to EU rules that come into force next month, shaking up how Europeans use vastly popular platforms from Google to Instagram. The European Union long ago set its sights on big tech, aiming to rein in globally dominant companies like Apple, Google and Microsoft. The landmark law known as the Digital Markets […]
Black teen in US loses court battle over hairstyle
HOUSTON, Feb 23, 2024 (AFP) – A Black teen who was punished at high school because of the way he wears his hair lost a court battle Thursday when a judge upheld the disciplinary action against him. Darryl George, 18, wears his hair in rope-like strands called locs, which are pinned to his head. Since last August he has been separated from his classmates and faced other punitive measures at Barbers Hill High School, outside […]
US to level more sanctions as Russia claims fresh gains in Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine, Feb 23, 2024 (AFP) – The United States plans to impose sanctions Friday on more than 500 targets involved in Russia’s war in Ukraine, as Moscow claims fresh battlefield advances two years after its invasion. Ukraine, grappling with hold-ups to much-needed Western military aid, has been pushed back from the front line in recent months. Already outgunned, Kyiv is rationing ammunition as political wrangling in Washington, Ukraine’s biggest ally, stalls a critically needed […]
Four charged in US navy seizure of Iranian weapons bound for Yemen rebels; two SEALs killed in intercepting the ship
WASHINGTON, Feb 22, 2024 (AFP) – Four men were charged on Thursday in connection with the seizure by the US Navy of a vessel carrying Iranian weapons bound for Yemen’s Huthi rebels, an operation which left two Navy SEALs dead. The four crew members were taken into custody during a January 11 operation in which elite US special operations personnel boarded a dhow off the coast of Somalia and seized missile components made in Iran, […]
Digital media upstart Vice laying off ‘several hundred’ staff: CEO
WASHINGTON, Feb 23, 2024 (AFP) – Vice, the dynamic, fast-growing digital media company that gained a wide following with young readers, said Thursday it will no longer publish on its flagship website and is eliminating hundreds of jobs. Millennial-focused and known for its edgy news and lifestyle content, Vice had been among the rising stars of a new breed of digital media firms but struggled as advertising revenues shrank. The move is the latest dose […]
Florida lawmakers pass kids’ social media ban, bill heads to governor
MIAMI, Feb 23, 2024 (AFP) – Florida lawmakers moved Thursday toward enacting one of the strictest bans on children’s use of social media in the United States, sending to the governor a bill to keep those under 16 off such platforms. The controversial legislation seeks to protect children’s mental health against the “addictive features” of such platforms, amid fears over online dangers including from sexual predators, cyber bullying and teen suicide. The legislation cleared the […]
America returns spaceship to the Moon, a private sector first
By Issam AHMED WASHINGTON, Feb 23, 2024 (AFP) – For the first time since the Apollo era, an American spaceship has landed on the Moon: an uncrewed commercial robot, funded by NASA to pave the way for US astronauts to return to Earth’s cosmic neighbor later this decade. Odysseus, built by Houston-based Intuitive Machines, touched down near the lunar south pole Thursday at 2323 GMT, after a nail-biting final descent where flight controllers had to […]
Baldwin blamed for “Rust” shooting in defense of armorer on trial
By Andrew MARSZAL SANTA FE, United States, Feb 23, 2024 (AFP) – Lawyers blamed Alec Baldwin for the fatal shooting on the set of Western film “Rust” in opening statements Thursday, as they defended the movie’s armorer from prosecutors’ allegations she was “unprofessional and sloppy.” Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died from her injuries after being hit by a live round fired from a gun Baldwin was holding during a rehearsal in New Mexico in 2021. Baldwin, […]
AT&T outage resolved; service restored after hours-long disruption
By John BIERS NEW YORK, Feb 22, 2024 (AFP) – Thousands of AT&T customers in the United States lost cell phone service for hours Thursday, with US officials saying there was no immediate indication of any cybersecurity attack. AT&T had succeeded by midday in winnowing the number of affected customers to a few thousand from a peak of 75,000. A few hours later near mid-afternoon, the company said it had fully restored all service. “We […]
Commercial US spaceship hours from attempted Moon landing
By Issam AHMED WASHINGTON, Feb 22, 2024 (AFP) – A Houston-based company is set Thursday to land America’s first spaceship on the Moon in more than 50 years, part of a new fleet of NASA-funded, uncrewed, commercial robots meant to pave the way for astronaut missions this decade. If all goes well, Intuitive Machines will guide its hexagon-shaped lander Odysseus, currently orbiting at approximately 60 miles (92 kilometers) from the surface, to a gentle touchdown […]
Kremlin says ‘shameful’ for Biden to call Putin ‘SOB’
MOSCOW, Feb 22, 2024 (AFP) – The Kremlin on Thursday said it was a “huge shame” that US President Joe Biden had called Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin a “crazy SOB”. Biden made the comments at a speech in San Francisco attended by a small group of reporters, in which he contrasted the risk posed by Putin to the threat of climate change. “This is a huge shame for the country itself… for the US. If […]





