The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | South Sudan is joining the Chemical Weapons Convention outlawing the use of toxic arms, meaning only three nations have not signed on to the treaty, a global watchdog said Friday. “South Sudan has no reason to sit on the fence,” top foreign ministry official …
Read More »Europe-Africa summit aims for evacuation of 3,800 migrants risking abuse
Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | Leaders at an EU-Africa summit called Thursday for the immediate evacuation of nearly 4,000 distressed African migrants in Libya under a new drive to fight slave traders and traffickers. Wrapping up a two-day summit in Ivory Coast’s economic capital, a top African Union (AU) official …
Read More »Trump’s war on CNN takes on new significance in merger debate
New York, United States | AFP | The war between Donald Trump and CNN has taken a new turn with the government’s challenge to a tie-up between AT&T and the cable news channel’s parent firm Time Warner. Even as his Justice Department moved to block the deal, the president has stepped …
Read More »Five arrested over elephant killing in Sri Lanka
Colombo, Sri Lanka | AFP | Sri Lankan police have arrested five men for allegedly killing a wild elephant, with officers seizing ivory and tusk-cutting tools, officials said Friday. Villagers in the island’s northwest had alerted wildlife authorities after a popular local elephant called “Dala Poottuwa”, or crossed tusker, disappeared. Its …
Read More »Kim Jong-Nam was carrying VX ‘antidote’: lawyer
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | AFP | North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un’s half-brother was carrying a VX ‘antidote’ when he was assassinated with the deadly nerve agent in a stunning Cold War-style hit, a lawyer said Friday. Kim Jong-Nam had 12 tablets of Atropine in his backpack when he was attacked, said …
Read More »Brazzaville: Journalists attacked meeting opposition lawyers
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | A group of plainclothes men attacked journalists in the Republic of the Congo on Thursday as they tried to attend a press conference held by the legal team of a jailed opposition figure, an AFP correspondent said. The assault took place outside the offices of …
Read More »Protesters keep up pressure on Togo president
Lome, Togo | AFP | Protesters in Togo showed no signs of relenting in their bid to oust President Faure Gnassingbe on Thursday, taking to the streets for a second day as the opposition outlined conditions for talks with the government. In Lome, the rallies — which have become a common …
Read More »North Korea’s new missile: Pyongyang vs the analysts
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea Thursday released pictures of its latest missile launch, giving analysts a chance to test Pyongyang’s claim of a breakthrough that brings the whole of the US within range of a nuclear strike. Leader Kim Jong-Un declared the test of a Hwasong-15 intercontinental …
Read More »Kenyan coach wary of Rwanda, Libya firepower
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenya’s new coach Paul Put has warned his players to expect Rwanda and Libya to be at full strength when they meet in the group phase of the Cecafa Senior Challenge Cup. In his first game since taking over from Stanley Okumbi last month, the Belgian-born …
Read More »Dying alone in the world’s most populous city
Tokyo, Japan | AFP | The stench of flesh rotting on a sultry day fills the air as cleaner Hidemitsu Ohshima steps into a tiny Tokyo apartment where a dead man lay decomposing for three weeks. The man, believed to be in his 50s, died alone in a city he shared …
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