Dhaka, Bangladesh | AFP | Bangladesh and Myanmar on Tuesday reaffirmed their commitment to begin repatriating Rohingya refugees from January, despite rights groups warning that their safety is still not assured should they return. The foreign secretaries of Bangladesh and Myanmar met in Dhaka to finalise the agreement signed on …
Read More »65 journalists and media workers killed globally in 2017: RSF
Paris, France | AFP | Sixty-five journalists and media workers were killed worldwide in 2017, according to annual figures published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) on Tuesday. Among them were 50 professional reporters, the lowest toll in 14 years. However, the downward trend is due at least in part to journalists …
Read More »2017: The year the bitcoin craze reached Wall Street
New York, United States | AFP | Bitcoin burst out of the shadows in 2017, seducing Wall Street and individual investors alike even though many still struggle to understand precisely what it is. The cryptocurrency’s rise is also pushing regulators to consider taking action after years of simply urging caution. Bitcoin …
Read More »France orders WhatsApp to seek permission for data transfer
Paris, France | AFP | France’s data protection agency on Monday told messaging app WhatsApp it needs to obtain users’ permission to transfer some information to its parent company Facebook and gave it a month to comply. “Should WhatsApp fail to comply with the formal notice within the specified timescale” the …
Read More »Anti-doping group urges Sky to suspend Froome
Paris, France | AFP | The movement for clean cycling MPCC implored Team Sky on Monday to suspend Tour de France winner Chris Froome over his adverse doping test. Last week Froome and Sky revealed the 32-year-old had tested for elevated levels of the asthma medication salbutamol during the Vuelta a …
Read More »COMMENT: Rwanda’s miracle and its magicians
A micro-sociological personal perspective of the country Kampala, Uganda | JUDE KAGORO | Rwanda is a country that is both understudied and misunderstood. Some people go to Rwanda sing praises of what they have seen and perhaps forget. Others, using euro-centric and Afro-pessimist lens, criticise uncritically. Some rely on age-old cliché to …
Read More »36,000 child migrants need aid in Libya: UN
Tripoli, Libya | AFP | Around 36,000 child migrants, including 14,000 who are unaccompanied, need help in Libya, a major transit hub for migrants trying to reach Europe, UN agencies said Monday. Out of about 400,000 migrants in Libya, nine percent are children, the UN children’s agency UNICEF and the International …
Read More »Aubameyang, Mane, Salah to contest CAF award
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Prolific goalscorers Mohamed Salah of Egypt and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Gabon were named on Monday among the three finalists for the African Player of the Year award. Sadio Mane of Senegal completes a list announced in Ghana for the highest annual Confederation of African Football …
Read More »Behind Rwanda’s new Cricket Stadium design
How architects adopted ancient African forms and cutting-edge building techniques to create an extraordinary structure from sustainably sourced materials Kampala, Uganda | GARETH VAN NIEKERT | Rwanda’s brand-new cricket stadium is inspired by the role sport can play in reconciliation. It was conceived as a promotor of peace and social interaction …
Read More »US court urged to allow abortions for immigrant teens
Washington, United States | AFP | A US court on Monday heard arguments from lawyers for two pregnant teenaged immigrants who are being prevented from having abortions while in custody. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), in a motion filed with the US District Court for the District of Columbia, identified …
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