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The independent

EU ministers make push for Google, Facebook tax

Tallinn, Estonia | AFP | Google and Facebook may face higher tax bills in Europe as the EU rushed Saturday to change rules so that more of Silicon Valley’s mega profits fall into public coffers. Public anger against the billions of euros earned by online behemoths is growing louder in Europe …

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One-fourth of Centrafricans displaced by conflict: UN

Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Simmering unrest and clashes in the chronically unstable Central African Republic has led a “record number” of 1.1 million people — about a fourth of the population — to flee their homes, the UN said Friday. UN High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman Andrej Mahecic said the …

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Togo panel approves controversial constitutional reform plan

Lome, Togo | AFP | A parliamentary panel in Togo on Friday approved a controversial bill to revamp the constitution and introduce a presidential term limit, after days of protests against the regime of Faure Gnassingbe, the scion of Africa’s oldest political dynasty. After a closed-door session, ten members of the …

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KPMG S.Africa repays $1.7 mn over bad report, ousts CEO

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Auditor KPMG on Friday distanced itself from a report by its South Africa office used by the president to controversially fire the former finance minister and will repay its $1.7 million fee. The scandal, which also led to the ouster of KMPG South Africa’s CEO …

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Zanzibar arrests 20 for ‘homosexuality’: police

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Twenty people have been arrested on Tanzania’s semi-autonomous archipelago Zanzibar for alleged homosexuality, a police official said Saturday, in the latest crackdown on the country’s gay community. “They are implicated in homosexuality. We arrested them and are busy interrogating them. The police cannot turn a blind …

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Zimbabwe opposition chief hospitalised in S. Africa:source

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader and former prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, has been hospitalised in South Africa after his health deteriorated, a senior party official told AFP Saturday. “He is in South Africa on account of a medical cause. He is being attended to,” a senior official …

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“Audit shows no hacking of Kenya vote system”

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | An audit of the electronic system used to tally votes in Kenya’s cancelled presidential poll showed no manipulation of data, the French biometrics firm that supplied the system told AFP Friday. Opposition leader Raila Odinga has accused the company, OT-Morpho, of being complicit in alleged rigging …

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Troops kill 36 Burundian refugees in DR Congo

Bukavu, DR Congo | AFP |  Soldiers shot dead 36 Burundian refugees in clashes in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, officials said Saturday, prompting shock, outrage and a demand for answers from the United Nations. A Burundian refugee said that more than 30 had been killed and at least 100 …

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Stanchart, MTN sign agreement for money collections

Kampala, Uganda | JULIUS BUSINGE | Standard Chartered Bank and MTN Uganda Limited have signed an agreement to allow MTN Mobile Money collections for corporate and business clients directly into their bank accounts, officials said in a press release shared on Sept. 15. The new service is called Straight2Bank Wallet Collections …

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