WASHINGTON (AFP) -- President Donald Trump will feature in a televised town hall Thursday on NBC News, the network said, setting up a  direct scheduling clash with rival Joe Biden who had already planned his own version. The two were originally meant to have been meeting for their second debate on Thursday evening. Instead, they will be simultaneously, but separately, talking to voters in TV studios -- NBC for Trump and ABC for Biden. Trump will be in Miami, the network said, while Biden,

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- US President Donald Trump said he was "medication free" and revealed more details of his fight with Covid-19 in a televised interview aired Friday, one week after he was hospitalized with the virus. The president appeared on Fox's Tucker Carlson Tonight for what the White House described as an on-air "medical evaluation" conducted remotely by Fox contributor doctor Marc Siegel. "Right now I'm medication-free, I'm not taking any medications as of, yo

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- US President Donald Trump sparked an angry backlash from the medical community Sunday with a protocol-breaking visit to his supporters outside the hospital where he is being treated for the highly-infectious, potentially deadly new coronavirus. He was masked as he waved from inside his bulletproof vehicle during the short trip outside Walter Reed military medical center near Washington, which appeared designed to take back the narrative on his improving health after a weeke

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- One US presidential candidate wants to raise taxes, the other lower them. One will pursue an ongoing trade war, the other may throttle back tensions. And neither will get much done without Congress's approval. The proposed economic policies of President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden offer starkly different views of the world's largest economy and its global role, ahead of the tense November 3 election. Biden's agenda is aimed at poorer Americans and inclu

MOSCOW (AFP) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed Friday concluding a pact with the United States against interfering in one another's elections, just weeks before the US heads to the polls. Western countries have for years accused Russia of using hackers and internet trolls to sway the outcome of elections, and US intelligence officials have said that it is once again manipulating social media in favour of Donald Trump as it did in 2016. In a Kremlin statement, Putin called

PARIS -- Airbus is aiming to put the world's first hydrogen-powered commercial plane into service by 2035, the European aircraft maker's boss said in remarks published Monday. Hydrogen is a clean fuel, emitting only steam, but whether it is green depends on the carbon footprint of the fuels used to produce it. France and other European countries are investing billions of euros in the development of green hydrogen, with the highly polluting transport industry a prime area for its intended use

PARIS (AFP) -- The number of coronavirus cases registered worldwide topped 30 million on Thursday, according to an AFP tally based on official sources. The grim landmark came as the World Health Organization warned of "alarming rates of transmission" of Covid-19 across Europe. The tallies, using data collected by AFP from national authorities and information from the World Health Organization (WHO), probably reflect only a fraction of the actual number of infections. Many countries

More diversity would strengthen the World Trade Organization, a WTO leadership candidate said, suggesting that placing an African or a woman such as herself at the top could send a "very powerful message". Amina Mohamed of Kenya, one of eight candidates vying to become the WTO's next director-general, said the organisation, as it battles with the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, would benefit from better reflecting all those around the world who contribute to global trade. &quo

     TOKYO (AFP) --Japanese officials and Tokyo 2020 organizers began talks Friday on the mammoth task of how to hold the postponed Olympics safely while the coronavirus pandemic continues to rage.    The Games were postponed earlier this year in a historic decision as the scale of the coronavirus crisis became clear.    But with less than a year until the new opening date on July 23, 2021, many questions remain -- from how border controls will affect the mov

  BRUSSELS (AFP) --NATO on Friday called for an international probe into the poisoning of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny and demanded Moscow reveal its Novichok nerve agent programme to the global chemical weapons watchdog.    After an emergency meeting of NATO's ruling council, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg said all countries were united in condemning the "horrific" attack on Navalny.    Germany, where Navalny is being treated, briefed the other

PARIS (AFP) - Neymar was one of three Paris Saint-Germain stars to have contracted the coronavirus, a well-placed source told AFP on Wednesday, after the Champions League runners-up announced several positive tests. "Three Paris Saint-Germain players have confirmed positive Sars CoV2 tests and are subject to the appropriate health protocol," PSG said in a statement. "All of the players and coaching staff will continue to undergo tests in the coming days." When contacted b

BEIJING (AFP) -- Tens of thousands of people in an ethnic Mongolian region of northern China have joined rare protests and school boycotts against a new curriculum they fear will wipe out their minority culture, residents said Tuesday. The sudden policy change in Inner Mongolia means all ethnic minority schools in the remote region will now be required to teach core subjects in Mandarin rather than Mongolian, echoing similar moves in Tibet and Xinjiang to assimilate local minorities into the d

FRANKFURT AM MAIN (AFP) -- Germany is in a V-shaped economic recovery and should avoid a new phase of lockdowns, the economy minister said Tuesday, despite a resurgence of coronavirus cases. German GDP is expected to fall 5.8 percent in 2020, a narrower recession than the 6.3 percent drop projected earlier, Peter Altmaier said, signalling that the country is emerging from the worst of the crisis. Altmaier said Germany "can and will" avoid lockdowns like Germans lived through in Mar

BARCELONA (AFP) -- Lionel Messi missed a coronavirus test at Barcelona's training ground on Sunday morning, club sources have confirmed to AFP, raising the possibility he will now boycott preseason to force a transfer. Without passing a coronavirus test, Messi will be unable to join teammates for new coach Ronald Koeman's first training session on Monday, with the start of the La Liga season less than two weeks away. Messi was due to report for testing at 10:15 a.m. on Sunday but according t

WASHINGTON (AFP) -- US President Donald Trump will travel next week to the Midwestern city where African American Jacob Blake was shot multiple times in the back by a white policeman, sparking a nationwide wave of protest. Trump will meet police in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Tuesday and "survey damage from recent riots" triggered by Blake's shooting last weekend, White House spokesman Judd Deere said Saturday. Blake took at least half a dozen shots in front of his small children as he tr