Paris, France | AFP | Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said he will field a strong side for Thursday’s Europa League visit to BATE Borisov, despite a 4000km round trip in the middle of a spell of three games in seven days. The second round of group-stage matches also sees AC Milan …

Paris, France | AFP | People aged 50 and older comprise a growing percentage of HIV patients in Europe, accounting for one in six new cases in 2015, researchers said Wednesday. The older cohort was more likely to be diagnosed with advanced stages of HIV and AIDS compared to 15-49 year …

Washington, United States | AFP | US Senate Republicans abandoned their latest plan to dismantle Obamacare Tuesday when it became clear that President Donald Trump’s party did not have the votes, assuring the 2010 health reforms survive for the foreseeable future. Grim-faced lawmakers, who had hoped to hold the vote this …

N’Djamena, Chad | AFP | Chad expressed to its United States ambassador the “injustice” of being added to the list of countries targeted by its travel ban, the acting foreign minister said Tuesday. The landlocked African country was included in the newest version of President Donald Trump’s order, which cited Chad’s …

Dublin, Ireland | AFP | Ireland announced it will hold a referendum next year on whether to repeal its constitutional ban on abortion in almost all cases — just a few weeks before Pope Francis visits. The government is also planning votes to remove Ireland’s anti-blasphemy law and to reduce the …

Brighton, United Kingdom | AFP | In a former church, 40-odd activists are learning how to become effective frontline troops in the battle to sweep Labour opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn into power. “The next campaign is already going on,” said 19-year-old Connor Hodgson-Brunniche, a student at York University, who came down …

San Francisco, United States | AFP | Twitter is testing allowing tweets to be expanded to 280 characters — double the existing limit — in the latest effort to boost flagging growth at the social network. San Francisco-based Twitter said Tuesday that the new limit, a major shift for the messaging …

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP | Saudi Arabia said Tuesday it would allow women to drive, the last country in the world to do so, sparking euphoria and disbelief among activists in the ultra-conservative kingdom, where social restrictions are increasingly being loosened. The longstanding driving ban was seen internationally as a …

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | AFP | Lewis Hamilton says he is “loving” his world championship battle with Sebastian Vettel so much that he has banished any thoughts of retirement as he heads into Sunday’s last-ever Malaysian Grand Prix. At Sepang a year ago Hamilton thought the world was against him, spouting …

Tafi Atome, Ghana | AFP | The villagers of Tafi Atome, in Ghana’s Volta Region, grew up listening to tales of their spiritual links to the 1,000 or so mona monkeys that inhabit the surrounding lush forest. But they have also turned that reverence into revenue, by making the cheeky primates …