More than 20 years after the “Macarena” sensation, a Spanish-language song has again conquered the US singles chart — Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito.” The song has soared to the top of the charts through an assist by pop celebrity Justin Bieber, who appears on a remix version with a breathy opening verse in … Read more
The US Supreme Court on Monday said Republican legislators in the state of North Carolina illegally used race to draw up congressional districts that would dilute the strength of African-American voters. In a 5-3 ruling, the top US court agreed with plaintiffs who said that the redrawn electoral boundaries deliberately targeted minority voters to diminish … Read more
Anthony Weiner, the disgraced former US Congressman, estranged husband of one of Hillary Clinton’s closest aides and former candidate for New York mayor pleaded guilty on Friday to sexting a school girl. The 52-year-old Weiner, wearing a dark suit and tie, broke down repeatedly — sobbing, sniffing and wiping his brow — while reading out … Read more
The Japanese government on Friday approved a one-off bill allowing ageing Emperor Akihito to step down from the Chrysanthemum Throne, in the first such abdication in two centuries. The bill will now be sent to parliament for debate and likely receive swift final approval, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s … Read more
Final score: Republicans 14, Barack Obama’s last-minute regulations, one. Congressional Republicans anxious to show voters they can get something done are hailing their reversal of more than a dozen Obama-era regulations on guns, the internet and the environment. Over a few months, lawmakers used an obscure legislative rule to ram through changes that will have … Read more
One is a female former teenage guerrilla fighter who became President Robert Mugabe’s closest ally, the other is a battle-hardened opposition leader often dismissed as a busted flush. But, despite their differences, Joice Mujuru and Morgan Tsvangirai are in talks to lead a united opposition alliance to try to unseat Mugabe in Zimbabwe’s much-anticipated election … Read more
Donald Trump said Thursday he asked his now-fired FBI director on three occasions whether he was the target of ongoing investigations, stoking allegations of presidential interference. Trump acknowledged asking James Comey if he was the subject of counter-intelligence probes into Russian influence in the 2016 election, twice in conversations over the phone and once over … Read more
The acting chief of the FBI told the US Congress Thursday that President Donald Trump’s shock firing of James Comey will not derail the investigation into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Trump dismissed the FBI director citing his handling of the probe into Hillary Clinton’s emails, but opponents suspect his ouster was a … Read more
U. S. President Donald Trump is defending his move to fire FBI Director James Comey, saying “he wasn’t doing a good job. Very simply.” Trump made the comment Wednesday in the Oval Office, sitting alongside former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger. Earlier, on the Twitter social media platform, the president contended that Comey had lost … Read more
A massive partisan split has opened among Americans on the role of the news media since the election of President Donald Trump, a new poll showed Wednesday. In the Pew Research Center poll, nearly nine in 10 Democrats (89 percent) said the media serves as a check against political leaders while just 42 percent of … Read more
South Korea’s new leader Moon Jae-in has been sworn in, vowing to address the economy and relations with the North in his first speech as president. He said that he would even be willing to visit Pyongyang under the right circumstances. Mr Moon took his oath of office in Seoul’s National Assembly building a day … Read more
South Korea’s new president is a former pro-democracy activist and special forces soldier whose electoral victory caps a turbulent political career — he was jailed by his predecessor’s father. Moon Jae-In of the centre-left Democratic party won Tuesday’s presidential election in a landslide, taking 41.1 percent of the vote, far ahead of his nearest rival. … Read more
Liberal candidate Moon Jae-in has claimed victory in South Korea’s presidential election. Mr Moon favours greater dialogue with North Korea, in a change to current South Korean policy. “I will be president for all South Koreans,” he told cheering supporters in Gwanghwamun Square in the capital Seoul. The early election was called after a corruption … Read more
Donald Trump Jr. took an Indiana victory lap Monday, speaking at the state Republican party’s spring dinner just more than one year after the state’s primary propelled his father toward the presidential nomination. The President’s eldest son issued a call to action to the Indiana Republicans, noting that recent victories like his father’s 2016 win, … Read more
The Democratic Party’s Moon Jae-in is expected to win the South Korean presidential election, according to an exit poll conducted by the country’s three major broadcasters. If Moon’s win is confirmed, he’s expected to reshape Seoul’s policy on North Korea, by challenging the deployment of the US missile defense system, THAAD, and opening talks with … Read more
The projected winner of South Korea’s presidential election is a former special forces soldier, pro-democracy activist and human rights lawyer. An exit poll forecast a landslide victory for left-leaning Moon Jae-In of the Democratic Party, giving him 41.4 percent support, 18 percentage points ahead of his nearest challenger. Victory will cap a political career that … Read more
The simmering controversy over Russia’s alleged meddling in last year’s US election returns to the spotlight Monday, with a former top Justice Department official set to testify on links between President Donald Trump’s advisors and Moscow. Former acting attorney general Sally Yates, a Barack Obama appointee held over for the start of the new administration, … Read more
South Korea’s presidential hopefuls made a final push for votes Monday, with the left-leaning candidate a clear favourite, as the North assailed the outgoing conservative government a day before the polls. A former pro-democracy activist and human rights lawyer, Moon Jae-In of the Democratic Party — who favours engagement with Pyongyang — has been leading … Read more
Thirty years after South Korea became a democracy, voters born in the period go to the polls Tuesday frustrated over their prospects and demanding change as growth slows and job prospects fade. The decades-long “Miracle on the Han” — named after the river that flows through Seoul — propelled the country from a war-ravaged ruin … Read more
Barack Obama will meet in Milan on Monday with Matteo Renzi, the former Italian prime minister who was recently elected as the new head of that country’s governing Democratic Party. The former US president — who will be in Milan to speak to a conference on innovation, food security and climate change — will meet … Read more