Posts by Amelia Frost
Germany’s AfD Dealt Blow With Right-wing Extremist Label
Germany’s domestic intelligence service on Friday designated the far-right AfD party as an extremist group, handing authorities greater powers to monitor it and fuelling calls for it to be banned. The anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) slammed the move as a “heavy blow” to democracy, just months after they won second place in national polls,…
Read MoreUS Designates Two Haitian Gangs As Terror Groups
The United States said Friday it has designated two of the gangs that wreak havoc while controlling most of Haiti’s capital as foreign terrorist groups. These gangs are Viv Ansanm and Gran Grif, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “The age of impunity for those supporting violence in Haiti is over,” Rubio…
Read MoreThe SAVE Act, Which Could Stop Millions of Women From Voting, Is ‘Dead on Arrival’ in the Senate
After the Republican-led House of Representatives passed the SAVE Act, a voter registration bill that experts warn could disenfranchise millions of women across the country, fears began to emerge that it would similarly be approved in the Senate. However, according to Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer, that’s not happening. “Let me be clear: I will…
Read MoreCarney Vows To Transform Canada Economy To Withstand Trump
Prime Minister Mark Carney promised Friday to oversee the biggest transformation of Canada’s economy since the end of the Second World War to enable it to “stand up” to Donald Trump. Carney led the Liberal Party to a dramatic fourth mandate in elections on Monday after a campaign focused on the US president’s threats to…
Read MoreChile, Argentina Order Evacuations Over Post-quake Tsunami Threat
Chilean authorities issued a tsunami warning for the country’s southernmost region Friday morning and both Chile and Argentina ordered evacuations after a major 7.5-magnitude earthquake struck off the coast of South America. The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the quake struck in the Drake Passage at a shallow depth of 10 kilometers (6.2 miles), 219…
Read MoreAustralians Vote In Election Swayed By Inflation, Trump
Australians will cram voting booths on Saturday to pick their next government, deciding a hard-fought election shaped by living costs, climate anxiety and Trump tariffs. From dusty desert towns to sun-splashed harbour cities, millions of Australians will choose between left-leaning incumbent Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and conservative challenger Peter Dutton. The almost universal consensus across…
Read MoreEU Wins Post-Brexit Fishing Row With Britain
The European Union on Friday won a landmark case against Britain at the world’s oldest arbitration body over post-Brexit rights to fish sandeels, a tiny North Sea species. The case at the Permanent Court for Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague was seen as a bellwether for other potential litigation between London and Brussels in a…
Read MoreActivists Say Drones Attacked Aid Boat Bound For Gaza
A group of activists organising an aid boat for Gaza said it was attacked on Friday by drones in international waters off Malta as it headed towards the Palestinian territory. The Maltese government and Cypriot rescuers said they had responded to a distress call from the vessel, while Malta said all crew members were safe…
Read MoreWhy Apple Warned About a $900 Million Tariff Hit
The worst is yet to come Wall Street had been anxiously awaiting the latest quarterly results from Amazon and Apple to see how badly the companies — of the so-called Magnificent Seven tech giants, perhaps the most vulnerable to President Trump’s trade war — would get hit by tariffs. The answer: not too badly. But…
Read MoreActivists Say Drones Hit Aid Boat Heading For Gaza, Blame Israel
A group of activists organising an aid boat for Gaza said it was attacked on Friday by drones in international waters off Malta as they headed towards the Palestinian territory, accusing Israel of attacking the vessel. The Maltese government said it responded to a distress call from the vessel and offered immediate support. It said…
Read MoreExxon and Chevron Report Lower Profits While Girding for Tariffs
The two largest U.S. oil companies reported their lowest first-quarter profits in years on Friday as they braced for the economic fallout from President Trump’s trade war, which has weakened consumer confidence and pushed oil prices down. U.S. crude prices slipped below $60 a barrel this week, a threshold below which many companies cannot make…
Read MoreMeta and Blumhouse Create Chatbot That Encourages Phone Use During Movies
“Oh, wow, this is really cool,” Flannery Johnston, 28, said as the chatbot came to life, offering a personalized hello from M3GAN, the diabolical A.I. doll at the center of the movie. Over the next 20 minutes, the chatbot served up about 10 messages. One was a question: “Do you think they’re inventing other dolls…
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