Beirut, Lebanon | AFP | Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad Hariri said Wednesday he was suspending his surprise resignation, pending talks, providing a potential way out of a political crisis that has rocked the country. In a rousing address before large crowds of supporters gathered outside his Beirut home, he pledged he …

Sochi, Russia | AFP | Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that efforts to end Syria’s six-year war were entering “a new stage” ahead of a planned meeting of Syrian government officials and opposition leaders, warning both sides that compromise would be necessary. The new talks should happen soon, Putin said …

San Francisco, United States | AFP | Facebook on Wednesday said it will help people see if they liked or followed posts considered part of a Russian effort to meddle with last year’s US election. A software tool to be released by the end of this year will allow users to …

Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis will meet Rohingya Muslim refugees from Myanmar in Dhaka when he visits the Bangladeshi capital next week, a Vatican spokesman said Wednesday. Francis, who has repeatedly spoken out over the persecution of the religious minority by the Myanmar authorities, will meet a …

Paris, France | AFP | French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday said that auctions of Africans as slaves in Libya, shown in footage broadcast by CNN, qualified as “crimes against humanity”. “France denounces this completely,” he said after meeting in Paris with African Union chief Alpha Conde, adding “we need …

Paris, France | AFP | France called Wednesday for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss slave-trading in Libya following video footage showing Africans being auctioned off in the war-torn country. “France decided this morning to ask for an urgent meeting of the United Nations Security Council to …

New York, United States | AFP | Sixty percent of US women voters say they have experienced sexual harassment and more than two-thirds of them said it happened at work, a nationwide poll revealed Tuesday. The findings come as the United States grapples with sexual assault and harassment scandals that have …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | 2017 has been a year of automotive technology breakthroughs. Here are six we think will have the most impact in future. Leave it to beaver Humans are said to cause 90 per cent of traffic accidents, so what better way to reduce that than with …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Umeme Limited Nov.16 held a media dialogue to highlight the utility’s investments in the power distribution infrastructure. Speaking at the event, Managing Director Selectino Babungi said Umeme had cumulatively invested over $500m in the distribution network. He revealed that the investments have led to the doubling …

Paris, France | AFP | Robert Mugabe, who resigned as Zimbabwe’s president on Tuesday, was the last living African head of state to have fought for his country’s independence before becoming its leader. Mugabe, 93, had used his aura of liberator from a colonial power to stay in power but had …