An era will end in Communist-run Cuba on Thursday when President Raul Castro retires, likely handing over the reins to his right hand man Miguel Diaz-Canel, born the year after brothers Fidel and Raul led their 1959 leftist revolution. However after nearly 60 years of Castro rule, the change is ... Read More »
Space telescope launches on quest for planets that could support life
A NASA satellite has embarked on a quest for planets where life might exist. Propelled by a Falcon 9 rocket supplied by private firm SpaceX, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) hurtled off of a launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Florida and into its search for so-called “exoplanets”, or worlds capable ... Read More »
Trump’s CIA chief in secret meeting with North Korean leader: U.S. officials
U.S. Secretary of State nominee and CIA Director Mike Pompeo made a secret visit to North Korea over the Easter weekend and met with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to discuss a planned summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, U.S. officials said on Tuesday. Pompeo’s trip made him the ... Read More »
More than 95% of Earth’s population breathing dangerously polluted air, finds study
Annual deaths from poor air have increased by 20 per cent since 1990 More than 95 per cent of the world’s population are breathing dangerously polluted air, with those in developing countries at considerably greater risk, facing a double whammy of breathing unsafe air both inside the home and out. ... Read More »
Barbara Bush dead: Former US first lady dies, aged 92
Donald Trump and wife Melania release statement lauding her efforts to promote literacy Former US first lady Barbara Bush has died at the age of 92. Her death was announced in a statement from the office of George HW Bush, the former president and Ms Bush’s husband of 73 years. ... Read More »
Abe hopes Trump meeting will bring Japan in from diplomatic cold
Japan’s PM wants assurance his country won’t be overlooked in any North Korea deal Besieged by cronyism scandals that have prompted speculation he will be out of office by early summer, Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, will arrive in the US for talks with Donald Trump this week with a ... Read More »
Commonwealth leaders could choose next head after Queen this week
Ahead of leaders’ retreat, Theresa May makes clear that UK backs Prince Charles as next symbolic leader of organisation Commonwealth leaders could decide this week on who takes over from the Queen as head of the organisation, Downing Street has said. The news came as Theresa May prepared to address ... Read More »
Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg to Meet With EU Digital Chief
Facebook Inc. co-founder Mark Zuckerberg is set to meet with one of the European Union’s leading regulators this week amid calls on both sides of the Atlantic for more oversight of digital privacy. Zuckerberg last week testified to the U.S. Congress in the wake of revelations that millions of Facebook ... Read More »
Trump Scraps New Sanctions Against Russia, Overruling Advisers
WASHINGTON — President Trump rejected, for now at least, a fresh round of sanctions set to be imposed against Russia on Monday, a course change that underscored the schism between the president and his national security team. The president’s ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki R. Haley, had announced on ... Read More »
Thousands of Android Apps Are Tracking Children, Study Finds
Apps collected personal information, such as a child’s location, without asking for parental permission More than 3,300 smartphone apps have been improperly collecting data on children, researchers have discovered. A study of 5,855 Android apps on Google Play found that more than half of them were potentially violating US privacy ... Read More »