Author: AFP

Facebook hit by French lawsuit over hate speech

PARIS: Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders announced Tuesday that it has filed a lawsuit against Facebook in France, saying the website breaks its own terms by failing to protect users against hate speech. The Paris-based campaign group, known by its French acronym RSF, said it was taking Facebook to court

Fire, wind and water: The new normal in a land Down Under

WINDSOR, Australia: Seventeen-year-old Rory Kirkland has lived in Australia for three years, but he has already experienced the full range of the country’s extreme weather, from searing heat to unprecedented bushfires and now floodwaters lapping the door of his family home. Most of the year, the Hawkesbury River meanders calmly

Oil prices slump on renewed lockdowns

LONDON: Oil prices slumped Tuesday on lower demand prospects as Europe’s biggest economy Germany said it would reimpose strict coronavirus containment measures and struggles along with other EU nations to roll out vaccines. European stock markets were mixed and US stock indices drifted lower after sharp losses in Asia. On

Icelandic volcano subsiding after first eruption in 900 years

GRINDAVIK, Iceland: A volcano that spewed glowing red lava near Iceland’s capital Reykjavik after awakening for the first time in 900 years appeared to be subsiding on Saturday, experts said. Officials said the eruption was small and did not represent a danger to people. Dramatic images filmed by a coast

AstraZeneca exports can be banned if bloc not supplied first

FRANKFURT: EU chief Ursula von der Leyen threatened Saturday to halt exports of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccines if the bloc did not receive its promised deliveries first, escalating a row that has fanned international tensions. “We have the option of banning a planned export. That’s the message to AstraZeneca: you fulfil

Funny old world: The week’s offbeat news

PARIS: Our weekly roundup of offbeat stories from around the world: Only codding Taiwan has been forced to ask people to stop changing their name to “salmon” after scores of young people did just that to take up a giveaway at a chain of sushi restaurants. Any customer whose ID

Pakistan PM Imran Khan tests positive for coronavirus

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan has tested positive for Covid-19, his office said Saturday, just two days after he was vaccinated against the disease. The diagnosis comes as the country grapples with a deadly third wave of a virus that has already killed nearly 13,800 people from more than

VW vows to dominate e-car market by 2025

FRANKFURT: German auto giant Volkswagen said Tuesday it is aiming to dominate the electric car market by 2025 as it accelerates the pace to catch up with US pioneer Tesla. Volkswagen sold 422,000 electrified vehicles in 2020. Of those, 230,000 were fully electric cars — or three times more than

Beijing’s new visa ruling for foreigners

BEIJING: China is poised to ease border restrictions to allow some foreigners — including from the US, India and Australia — back in, provided they have taken a Chinese-made Covid-19 vaccine. The country has been closed to most foreigners since last March to stem the spread of the coronavirus, which

Funny old world: The week’s offbeat news

PARIS: Our weekly roundup of offbeat stories from around the world: You horny devil Cute, chunky 107-stone female seeks caring Japanese male for companionship and maybe more… Emma, a Taiwanese white rhino at the country’s Leofoo Safari Park, has been learning Japanese for her first date with a sauve older