San Francisco, United States | AFP | Google parent company Alphabet on Thursday reported a quarterly loss to set aside funds to pay taxes on repatriated profits, and named a new chairman to replace outgoing Eric Schmidt. Shares in Alphabet slid 2.3 percent in after-hours trade on the results, highlighting …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has set his sights on emulating Thierry Henry as Arsenal’s club record signing prepares to make his debut against Everton on Saturday. Aubameyang joined Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund in a £56 million ($79 million, 63 million euros) switch on Wednesday and is …

New York, United States | AFP | Rihanna on Thursday used her star power to urge key governments to commit to ensuring education for the world’s poorest as she takes part in an international conference in Senegal. The chart-topping singer arrived in the capital Dakar where she on Friday will …

Paris, France | AFP | A former DR Congo army colonel who threatened an uprising against President Joseph Kabila has been arrested in neighbouring Tanzania, which may be preparing to extradite him, a rights group said Thursday. John Tshibangu, who deserted to rebel against Kabila in 2012, said in a …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | England’s Premier League clubs have spent more money than ever in a January transfer window, with initial estimates suggesting they had reached the £450 million ($639 million, 514 million euros) mark come deadline day. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang joined Arsenal from Borussia Dortmund for a club-record …

Aden, Yemen | AFP | The UN expressed concern on Wednesday for more than 40,000 displaced Yemenis who had sought refuge in second city Aden, only to find themselves caught in deadly fighting between troops and separatist militia. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said it had been unable to distribute …

Manchester, United Kingdom | AFP | Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola urged officials to better protect his star players after a 3-0 victory over West Bromwich Albion on Wednesday. The result left his side with a commanding 15-point lead at the top of the Premier League but Guardiola was unhappy …

Bangui, Central African Republic | AFP | The pot-holed streets of Bangui’s Muslim quarter are lined with stalls plying their trade to a cacophony of honking horns and cars backfiring — a comforting image of bustling life in Central African Republic’s capital. But beneath this veneer of normalcy, many traders …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Funmi Ilori once had a dream about creating the biggest library in Africa. Now she drives vans packed with books to poor areas of Lagos to help children discover a love of reading. “Readers are what?” she asks about 15 youngsters, sitting on little plastic …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | With Zimbabwe holding elections this year, the opposition had been feeling cautiously optimistic — until its arch-enemy, Robert Mugabe, was ousted from power. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, now faces the threat of a revived ZANU-PF party at polls that …