World news

Eric Tabanou, director of the France Tabac, factory in the Dordogne region of southwest France, said keeping the country's last tobacco processing site open became unviable. AFP/Mehdi FEDOUACH Anti-smoking campaigners may cheer its demise, but for its workers and local tobacco growers, the closure of the France Tabac factory after 34 years of operation is a devastating blow to the Dordogne region of southwest France. "It's a fine mess," lamented Chanquoi, 61, who has worked for over 30 years at the factory in the town of Sarlat-la-Caneda. "It makes you well up a bit, it's hard. I am at the end of my career, but for my friends ... who have a decade of career ahead of them, it is tough," he added. In its heyday after opening in 1985 in one of France's main tobacco growing regions, the factory was a mainstay of the local economy, extending over 10 hectares and processing 20,000 tonnes of tobacco leaves from France and Europe every year. "Our know-how is recognised across all of … [Read more...] about Final puffs for France”s last tobacco factory

US President Donald Trump has angered even his own Republican allies with the Syria pullout decision AFP/Andrew CABALLERO-REYNOLDS The White House issued a late-night statement Sunday that it was effectively abandoning the Kurds who did most of the fighting alongside US forces to drive Islamic State extremists from northern Syria. Trump defended this in tweets Monday as part of his longstanding wish to end US military entanglements in the Middle East, or what he branded "ridiculous Endless Wars." The US pullout from Turkish border areas will allow Ankara, which has spent decades fighting Kurdish guerrilla groups, to launch cross-border operations. And it weakens the US hand in the broader chess game of Syria's civil war, involving Iran, Russia, European powers and Israel. In a sense there should be no surprise. Railing against the costly occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan and - despite his bellicose rhetoric - holding off from military strikes against Iran, Trump believes he is … [Read more...] about Trump walks away from Syria and Republican allies

American teenager Coco Gauff reached her maiden WTA quarter-final on Wednesday (Oct 9), assuring herself of a place in the world top 100 for the first time. Coco Gauff eyes the ball as she returns to Kateryna Kozlova. (AFP/BARBARA GINDL) Gauff, currently ranked at 110, was 4-6, 6-4, 2-0 ahead when Ukrainian opponent Kateryna Kozlova retired from their Linz second round clash with a left leg injury. At 15 years and 214 days, she is the youngest player to reach the last-eight at a WTA event since January 2005 when Sesil Karatancheva made the quarter-finals at the Gold Coast, aged 15 years and 153 days. "I know her, oh wow," Gauff told wtatennis.com. "It's a good accomplishment, and hopefully I can continue to push that to the semi-finals. "I guess that I'm used to being the youngest to do a lot of things, and I hope that I can continue to do that and enjoy my youth years, because as everyone tells me, it doesn't last long." Gauff, who electrified Wimbledon by coming through … [Read more...] about Gauff, 15, reaches first WTA quarter final, youngest since 2005

A screen displays the portraits of the laureates of the 2019 Nobel Prize in Chemistry (L-R) John Goodenough of US, Britain's Stanley Whittingham and Japan's Akira Yoshino during a press conference at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, Sweden, on Oct 9, 2019. (Photo: Naina Helen Jama/TT News Agency/AFP) John Goodenough of the United States - at 97 the oldest person to be awarded a Nobel prize - Britain's Stanley Whittingham, and Japan's Akira Yoshino will share the nine million Swedish kronor (about US$914,000 or €833,000) prize equally, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said. "This lightweight, rechargeable and powerful battery is now used in everything from mobile phones to laptops and electric vehicles ... (and) can also store significant amounts of energy from solar and wind power, making possible a fossil fuel-free society," the jury said. "Lithium batteries have revolutionised our lives since they first entered the market in 1991," it said, adding … [Read more...] about US UK Japan trio win chemistry Nobel for lithium ion battery

Egypt’s state-run news agency says security forces killed a militant who tried to blow himself up near a checkpoint in a restive province in northern Sinai.MENA news agency reports that security forces shot and killed the militant on Thursday in the Mediterranean coastal city of el-Arish, before he could detonate his explosive-laden belt.The official Facebook page of Egypt’s interior ministry posted a photograph showing the purported militant’s body on the ground, his face blurred out.Egypt has battled an insurgency led by an Islamic State affiliate for years in the Sinai Peninsula. The fighting has occasionally spilled over to the mainland. … [Read more...] about Egypt’s news agency: Security kills militant in north Sinai