Paris, France | AFP | Being overweight or obese does pose a risk of heart disease, despite claims to the contrary, a study of nearly 300,000 British adults suggested Friday. While it is generally accepted that being overweight increases a person’s disease risk, some researchers have recently suggested that carrying …

Washington, United States | AFP | A US military aircraft has crashed in western Iraq with American personnel aboard, the international coalition against the Islamic State jihadist group said on Thursday. “Rescue teams are responding to the scene of the downed aircraft at this time,” the US-led coalition said in …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria was on Friday urged to re-open investigations into 89 oil spills in its southern delta region, after claims that Shell and ENI misreported the causes. Rights group Amnesty International said there were “reasonable doubts” about how the spills happened, suggesting corrosion rather than oil …

Paris, France | AFP | Having finally secured her fourth term as Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel heads to France on Friday for talks with President Emmanuel Macron, who is eager to push ahead with EU overhauls. Macron has called for a major reform drive to reinvigorate the European Union at …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP | With Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on the cusp of winning a second term in this month’s election, what’s left of the opposition is reduced to praying he will step aside in four years. There is little else his critics can realistically hope for after …

Paris, France | AFP | Fernando Torres scored twice as Atletico Madrid romped to a 5-1 Europa League thrashing of Lokomotiv Moscow in Russia on Thursday to complete a resounding last-16 victory. Diego Simeone’s side wrapped up an 8-1 win on aggregate to book a place in Friday’s quarter-final draw. …

Paris, France | AFP | Danny Welbeck’s controversial penalty and a Gianluigi Donnarumma howler helped Arsenal beat AC Milan in the Europa League last 16 on Thursday 5-1 on aggregate, while Borussia Dortmund slumped to a shock exit at the hands of Salzburg. The 3-1 win on the night eases …

Libreville, Gabon | AFP | One of Gabon’s biggest trials for corruption got underway on Thursday, in a case featuring senior civil servants and former ministers. The trial is taking place in a recently-created judicial unit, the Special Criminal Court, in the capital Libreville. The high-profile case follows from an …

Bloemfontein, South Africa | AFP | A Danish gun shop owner in South Africa initially accused of storing women’s genitals in a freezer was handed two life sentences Thursday for raping a child and conspiracy to murder. Peter Frederiksen, 65, was found guilty of 36 offences in the Free State …

  Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Israel’s supreme court on Thursday suspended a controversial government plan to deport thousands of Eritrean and Sudanese migrants in response to a challenge from those opposed to the move. The court said in its decision the state was given until March 26 to provide …