NEWS ANALYSIS

New York, United States | AFP |  Rafael Nadal launched his tilt at a fourth US Open title Tuesday with a swift defeat of John Millman as other leading seeds in his half of the draw tumbled out in the first round. Four players in the world’s top 10 — Dominic …

Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump is not afraid of surprises but could he take one of the biggest shifts of all in his foreign policy — easing sanctions on Iran? Washington is widely skeptical that Trump will shift course on Iran, with his hawkish advisors long …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson Tuesday to lead Britain out of the EU without a divorce deal, and threatened otherwise to fight his Conservative party “in every seat”. “Given where we are, no deal is the best deal,” Farage told …

Biarritz, France | AFP |  Like Superman disguised as the mild-mannered Clark Kent, Donald Trump showed his tamer side at the G7 — but the maverick showman expected by the world didn’t take long to burst back out. Before the summit in France’s Biarritz, speculation was rife over how Trump might …

Chemnitz, Germany | AFP |  A giant Karl Marx statue towers in the east German city of Chemnitz but, 30 years after the Berlin Wall fell, another political wind is blowing here as the ex-communist city battles the image of a far-right hotbed. Polls suggest that Sunday the region’s voters will deliver …

New York, United States | AFP | Serena Williams overwhelmed Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-1 on Monday to reach the second round of the US Open in search of her 24th Grand Slam title while “rusty” Roger Federer rallied past Indian qualifier Sumit Nagal. Six-time US Open champion Williams crushed the five-time major …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | In NASA satellite images, forest fires in central Africa appear to burn alarmingly like a red chain from Gabon to Angola similar to the blazes in Brazil’s Amazon that sparked global outcry. At the G7 summit this week, French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted about the …

Bangui, Central African Republic | AFP | Two teams confronted each other on the dusty sports field, wielding roughly cut sticks to whack a homemade puck at high speed. For the middle-aged and beyond, the sight of this rugged game triggered distant memories, of happier times. The sport, known as ngbaba, …

Despite opposition from troop-contributing countries, UN cuts down numbers again Kampala, Uganda | IAN KATUSIIME | July 13. Overnight assault on hotel in Kismayo port city. 26 people killed including a Briton, three Kenyans, three Tanzanians, two Americans and one Canadian. Some Chinese are injured. July 22. Car bomb explodes …

Shanghai, China | AFP | China’s yuan has sunk by around four percent in August to its lowest point in more than 11 years on Monday, a decline likely to further exacerbate trade tensions with Washington. Here are five things to know about the yuan’s slide: – Why has the …