Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe’s vice president has returned home from neighbouring South Africa where he was flown for emergency medical care for suspected food poisoning, a privately-owned newspaper reported Sunday. Emmerson Mnangagwa, 74, who is seen as a favourite to succeed President Robert Mugabe, fell ill at a rally …
Read More »Saudi says Qatar blocks planes from transporting pilgrims
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP | Qatar has blocked Saudi planes from transporting hajj pilgrims, Saudi state media said Sunday, after Riyadh reopened the border despite a major diplomatic crisis roiling the Gulf. Riyadh last week reopened its land border with Qatar and allocated seven flights of the Saudi national carrier …
Read More »Behind olive trees, Spain terror cell’s bomb factory
Alcanar, Spain | AFP | Martine Groby rues the day when she ignored her father who told her: “They are terrorists, take down their number plates.” “I should have listened to him,” said Groby, who saw all the windows of her home in Spain shatter when a massive explosion detonated in …
Read More »Merkel says Turkey must not ‘misuse’ Interpol in writer’s case
Berlin, Germany | AFP | Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday she was glad a Spanish court had ordered the conditional release of a Turkish-German writer wanted by Ankara and warned Turkey not to “misuse” Interpol to pursue its critics. “That’s not on. We must not misuse international organisations such as Interpol” …
Read More »Farah motors home in victorious adieu to home crowd
Birmingham, United Kingdom | AFP | British athletics legend Mo Farah began the day taking a lap of honour in an open top Bentley and ended it by giving the crowd what they wanted in his final race on home turf — a victory. The 34-year-old, who had agonisingly fallen just …
Read More »Alonso ruins Spurs’ Wembley house-warming
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Tottenham Hotspur made a losing start to life as Wembley’s full-time tenants after Marcos Alonso’s double earned Premier League champions Chelsea a 2-1 victory on Sunday. The Spaniard struck either side of a late Michy Batshuayi own goal to get Chelsea back to winning ways …
Read More »KENYA: How Uhuru Kenyatta won
‘Raila fatigue’ favours status quo in Kenya election Kenya | YVONNE ROWA WOODS | Kenya’s 2017 polls will be remembered as the election of minor gains and confounding contradictions. In the run up to polling, public discontent appeared to have been largely driven by the unprecedented sophistication in graft and …
Read More »Defence firms eye billion-dollar chance for ‘made in India’
New Delhi, India | AFP | India has drawn up a shopping list for tens of billions of dollars of foreign fighter jets, armoured vehicles, submarines and helicopters but it will only sign the cheques if they are made in India. The world’s largest defence importer has announced a new policy …
Read More »Eclipse-chasers trot the globe, addicted to Moon’s shadow
Miami, UNITED STATES | AFP | Eclipse-chasers are a dedicated crew of scientists who travel the globe to catch a few moments in eerie darkness, and even after seeing dozens of eclipses, they say they can’t get enough. Also known as “umbraphiles,” these self-described addicts live their lives in pursuit of …
Read More »THIS WEEK: Kabafunzaki corruption case hearing kicks off
THIS WEEK: Kabafunzaki corruption case hearing kicks off The anti- corruption court in Kampala on Aug.14 kicked off hearing the case in which the suspended junior Labor Minister Herbert Kabafunzaki alongside two others are accused of soliciting a bribe from Aya Group Boss Hamid Muhammed to clear his name against …
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