Los Angeles, United States | AFP |  A US appeals court on Monday upheld a decision to block President Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban targeting citizens from six Muslim majority nations — the latest in a string of stinging judicial blows for the Republican billionaire. The US Court of Appeals …

Washington, United States | AFP |  The US Secret Service said Monday it does not have any audio recordings or transcripts of US President Donald Trump’s White House conversations. After Trump again intimated last week that he could have recorded his controversial discussions with fired FBI director James Comey, it …

Fangshan, China | AFP |  The water might be chilly but dozens of naked men happily relax in an outdoor pool in a Beijing suburb making the most of the sunshine. “This is a paradise for Chinese nudists,” says 18-year-old Zhen, displaying a tiger tattoo on his chest. The small …

Norristown, United States | AFP |  Bill Cosby goes on trial Monday, accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his Philadelphia mansion 13 years ago, with the megastar turned pariah facing prison if convicted. For decades, he was “America’s Dad,” loved by millions for his role as an …

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | AFP |  Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways said Monday it would suspend flights to Qatar after the United Arab Emirates was among major Gulf states to sever ties with Doha in an unprecedented regional crisis. Etihad said flights would stop on Tuesday, after the UAE, …

Beijing, China | AFP | China has expressed “firm opposition” to remarks made by US Pentagon chief Jim Mattis during a regional defence summit over the weekend, after he criticised Beijing’s “militarisation” of the South China Sea. Washington has repeatedly expressed concerns that China’s development of artificial islands in the …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP |  Egypt on Monday announced it was cutting diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing Doha of supporting “terrorism”, as Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates adopted similar measures. Egypt “has decided to sever its diplomatic relations with the state of Qatar,” the foreign affairs ministry …

New East African competition starts  today Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | A new football competition for East African teams kicks off in Dar es Salaam on Monday featuring top league clubs from Kenya, Tanzania and Zanzibar. The inaugural SportPesa Super Cup is backed by the Kenyan and Tanzania football federations after …

Washington, United States | AFP | The World Bank is keeping its forecast for global growth in 2017 unchanged, because for the first time in years, no new risks have arisen to threaten the outlook. “Over the past four years this is the first time we didn’t have a downgrade …

Monrovia, Liberia | AFP | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday joined West African leaders at a summit in Liberia, where they hailed peacekeeping efforts in the region but warned about threats to stability. Netanyahu, who had visited east Africa in July 2016, vowed that they had “no better …