A 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit southern California on Friday at 8:19 pm (0319 GMT Saturday), the United States Geological Survey said.The latest quake is part of what geologists are calling an "earthquake sequence" and follows a 6.4-magnitude quake that struck the same area the day before. The USGS said the previous day's tremor was a "foreshock" to Friday's quake, with CNN reporting that the latest tremor was 11 times stronger. Residents on the ground said they were feeling

World News July 6, 2019

R&B singer Halle Bailey is to play Ariel in a live-action version of “The Little Mermaid,” she said Wednesday, in a rare casting of a black actress as a Disney princess.Bailey, 19, who rose to fame under the wing of pop queen Beyonce, said it was a “dream come true” to play the lead role. She tweeted a cartoon image of the princess in which the traditionally red-headed Ariel has dark skin, brown eyes and black hair. Director Rob Marshall said Bailey had been cast afte

Film July 4, 2019

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) -- Facebook acknowledged Wednesday an outage affecting users in various parts of the world and said it was working on a fix.Online monitoring service DownDetector reported earlier the outage began around 1200 GMT and affected Facebook as well as its Instagram and WhatsApp services.#Facebookdown and #instagramdown were trending on Twitter as users around the world reported these apps were not functioning. Facebook said in a tweet: "We're aware that some people are having

World News July 4, 2019

North Korea complained on Wednesday after the United States sent a letter urging countries to send back North Korean workers as President Donald Trump was inviting Kim Jong Un to hold talks.  The North Korean mission to the United Nations said the letter sent to all UN member-states showed that the United States is “practically more and more hell-bent on the hostile acts” against North Korea, even though it is seeking dialogue. The mission said the letter from the United States,

North Korea July 4, 2019

TOKYO (AP) -- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says Japan cannot give South Korean exports preferential treatment because the country is not abiding by an agreement regarding wartime issues that Japan insists have been resolved. Abe was objecting Wednesday to criticism over escalating tensions between the two neighbors amid disputes over Koreans forced to work as laborers during World War II.He was defending a decision announced Monday to impose restrictions on Japan’s exports of semiconduct

Industry July 3, 2019

A rare total solar eclipse plunged a vast swath of Latin America's southern cone into darkness Tuesday, briefly turning day into night and enthralling huge crowds in much of Chile and Argentina.Hundreds of thousands of people -- including large crowds congregated in La Higuera in Chile, a country that hosts some of the world's most powerful astronomical telescopes -- looked to the skies captivated by the breathtaking spectacle.Thousands of people on beaches near the Chilean city of La Serena che

World News July 3, 2019

Chinese President Xi Jinping urged US President Donald Trump to "show flexibility" towards North Korea, including the "timely" easing of sanctions, at the G20 summit last week, China's foreign minister said Tuesday.Xi visited North Korea prior to meeting Trump at the G20 in Japan on Saturday, and analysts had said the Chinese leader could use the trip as leverage in his trade war talks with the US leader.Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong Un the next day at the Demilitari

North Korea July 3, 2019

The Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas was closed to tourists on the North's side on Sunday, a tour company said, amid speculation US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong -un would meet there."The DMZ is closed to tourists visiting from the North Korean side today," tweeted Koryo Tours, the market leader in western tourism to the isolated country. (AFP)

North Korea June 30, 2019

US President Donald Trump said Sunday that Kim Jong-un "very much wants" to meet him, a day after inviting the North Korean leader to "say hello" in the Demilitarized Zone that divides the peninsula."We'll see. He very much wants to. We are trying to work it out," Trump told reporters about a possible third face-to-face meeting between the pair after summits in Singapore and Hanoi."It will be very short but that's OK. A handshake means a lot," he added, wi

North Korea June 30, 2019

OSAKA, Japan (AFP) -- US President Donald Trump said trade negotiations with China were "back on track" after "excellent" talks Saturday with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in which Washington reportedly agreed to hold off on new tariffs.The crunch talks on the damaging trade war between the world's top two economies came on the sidelines of a meeting of the G20 in Japan's Osaka, with all eyes on whether the pair would agree a truce. "We had a very good meeting

Economy June 29, 2019

BEIJING (AFP) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump agreed on Saturday to restart fractious China-US trade negotiations, with Beijing saying Washington agreed not to slap new tariffs on its exports, according to Chinese state media.The two countries will restart the talks "on the basis of equality and mutual respect", according to the official Xinhua news agency after the two leaders met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Osaka.  Xi opened the meeti

Economy June 29, 2019

OSAKA, Japan (AFP) -- US President Donald Trump said Saturday his high-stakes trade meeting with China's President Xi Jinping was "excellent" with negotiations now "back on track"."We had a very good meeting with President Xi of China... I would say excellent," Trump said after the talks on the sidelines of the G20 summit."We are right back on track," he said, adding both sides would be releasing official statements shortly. (AFP)

Economy June 29, 2019

OSAKA, Japan (AFP) -- Washington is open to a "historic" trade deal with China, President Donald Trump said Saturday as he met President Xi Jinping, who called for "cooperation and dialogue"."It would be historic if we could do a fair trade deal," Trump said at the start of the high-stakes meeting to thrash out a tariff war between the world's top two economies. "We are totally open to it," added Trump after Xi said "cooperation and dialogue"

Economy June 29, 2019

OSAKA, Japan (AFP) -- US President Donald Trump and China's Xi Jinping kicked off a hotly awaited meeting Saturday, with the world watching to see if they can strike a deal over their long-running trade war."It would be historic if we could do a fair trade deal," Trump said at the start of the high-stakes meeting to thrash out a tariff war between the world's top two economies. "We are totally open to it," added Trump after Xi said "cooperation and dialogue" ar

World News June 29, 2019

British Prime Minister Theresa May told Russian President Vladimir Putin Friday that normal relations will not be restored until Moscow ends its "irresponsible and destabilising" activity, a Downing Street spokesperson said.   The comments came as May met Putin for the first time since the row over the poisoning of a former Russian spy on British soil.   "She told the president that there cannot be a normalisation of our bilateral relationship until Russia stop

World News June 28, 2019