Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe has been gripped by an escalating spat between the president’s wife and his senior vice-president over a bizarre poisoning incident that has laid bare the pair’s ambitions to succeed President Robert Mugabe. Though Mugabe has repeatedly condemned factionalism and refused to discuss his successor, his …

Antananarivo, Madagascar | AFP | Authorities in Madagascar Friday announced a ban on prison visits to prevent the spread of a plague epidemic that has killed 36 people in the Indian Ocean island. “In order to protect prisoners from the plague that is spreading outside the prison, we have decided to …

Miami, United States | AFP | Traces of pesticides that act as nerve agents on bees have been found in 75 percent of honey worldwide, raising concern about the survival of these crucial crop pollinators, researchers said Thursday. Human health is not likely at risk from the concentrations detected in a …

La Goulette, Tunisia | AFP | The number of illegal migrants leaving Libya for Europe has fallen by 20 percent so far in 2017, the European naval force charged with stopping people trafficking in the Mediterranean said Thursday. “We have seen a drop in the number of people leaving Libya for …

Paris, France | AFP | A Paris court on Thursday fined French journalist and writer Pierre Pean 1,000 euros ($1,170) and ordered him to pay a symbolic one euro in damages in a libel case brought by Gabonese President Ali Bongo. In a 2014 book called “Nouvelles affaires africaines” (“New African …

Los Angeles, United States | AFP | A record 92 countries have entered the race hoping to snag an Oscar for best foreign language film at next year’s awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced on Thursday. Among the contenders that have created a buzz this year is …

Londres, United Kingdom | AFP | Kazuo Ishiguro, the 62-year-old British novelist of Japanese origin who won the Nobel Prize for Literature on Thursday, once wanted to be a rock star, then became a social worker and only later in life turned to writing. Born in Japan and raised in England …

Chicago, United States | AFP | The Las Vegas gunman who carried out the deadliest mass shooting in recent US history also had scouted possible locations in Chicago and Boston, US media reported Thursday. Stephen Paddock booked two rooms during the Lollapalooza music festival in August at Chicago’s Blackstone hotel, which …

Moscow, Russia | AFP | Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, on a landmark visit to Russia, and President Vladimir Putin on Thursday signed a slew of arms and energy deals as the key US ally seeks to deepen cooperation with Moscow. The leaders of the world’s largest energy exporters discussed an extension …

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP | Saudi Arabia Wednesday announced the consolidation of development funds under a unified body led by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, cementing the powerful prince’s position in the Gulf kingdom’s affairs. The new National Development Fund joins industrial, agricultural and social development funds under a board …