Berlin, Germany | AFP |  Pope Francis said in an interview published Thursday that the church may consider ordaining married men who could potentially then work in remote areas faced with a shortage of priests. “We must think about whether viri probati are a possibility,” Francis said referring to older, …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday returned to Nigeria after nearly two months’ medical leave in Britain but did little to quell fears about the state of his health by saying he would not start work again immediately. The 74-year-old, who has been in London since …

Frankfurt am Main, Germany | AFP |  German carmaker Volkswagen and India’s Tata Motors plan a future “strategic partnership” in the subcontinent to jointly develop parts and vehicles, the two firms said in a joint statement Friday. Europe’s and India’s largest auto manufacturers signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) “to …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP |  In the beginning was .com, followed by a host of other .somethings, but on Friday, 32 years after the world’s first domain name was registered, the African Union has launched .africa for the continent. Africans who want to register a website will be able …

Brussels, Belgium | AFP | The idea of a so-called multi-speed European Union is not new, and some might argue that it already describes the bloc in its current form. But as 27 EU leaders without Britain discuss their post-Brexit future, the concept has come to dominate debate on what …

Düsseldorf, Germany | AFP | German police said Friday an axe-wielding attacker who went on the rampage wounding nine at a railway station was mentally ill and may have hoped police would shoot him dead. The 36-year-old Kosovan national had been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic with a history of …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | President Muhammadu Buhari arrived back in Nigeria on Friday after nearly two months in London receiving treatment for an undisclosed ailment. The 74-year-old landed at the airport in the northern city of Kaduna at about 7:40 am (0640 GMT) and was flown by helicopter to the …

New York, United States | AFP |  More than 730 people aged five to 76 have changed gender on New York birth certificates since 2015, an explosion in applications after rules were relaxed two years ago, officials said Thursday. The 731 gender-change applications approved since January 2015 come in stark …

Seoul, South Korea | AFP | South Korean President Park Geun-Hye was fired by the country’s top court on Friday, as it upheld her impeachment by parliament over a wide-ranging corruption scandal. The unanimous decision brought to a climax months of political turmoil that brought millions of people onto the streets …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  The International Olympic Committee on Thursday imposed a freeze on grants to the Kenyan Olympic committee in a move which would affect the running of national sports activities in the country. The IOC said in a statement that it was unhappy that the Kenyan National …