NEWS ANALYSIS

Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP |  Wearing a fading Mickey Mouse T-shirt, her knees hugged to her chest, eight-year-old Musu Kamara sits in a corrugated shack in Sierra Leone’s capital waiting for her initiation into a secret society. Kamara will leave for two weeks in the bush with a sisterhood called …

London, United Kingdom | AFP |  Arsenal’s failure to qualify for the Champions League for a third successive season, compounded by an underwhelming transfer window, has left the Gunners facing a turbulent campaign. Here, AFP Sport takes a closer look at the issues that will determine whether Unai Emery’s side …

Washington, United States | AFP |  Retired union organizer Anna Burger lives by a busy road just a minute’s walk from a metro station in the US capital Washington, but every morning she wakes up to a birdsong symphony. Butterflies, squirrels and even the occasional deer also come to visit the …

Washington, United States | AFP |   Australia’s Nick Kyrgios overcame a mid-match meltdown and his rival’s shoe repair delays Saturday to defeat Greek top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and reach the ATP Washington Open final. The 52nd-ranked Aussie hammered 19 aces, saved a match point and often played to the crowd …

Washington, United States | AFP |  A series of privacy missteps in recent months has raised fresh concerns over the future of voice-controlled digital assistants, a growing market seen by some as the next frontier in computing. Recent incidents involving Google, Apple and Amazon devices underscore that despite strong growth in …

Washington, United States | AFP |  Three-time Grand Slam champion Andy Murray moved closer to a singles return six months after right hip surgery while Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas rolled into the world’s top five Friday at the ATP Washington Open. Britain’s Murray and his brother Jamie, in their first doubles …

Washington, United States | AFP |  Barack Obama slashed US unemployment, protected child migrants and delivered health care to millions. But several 2020 candidates scorched the popular ex-president at their Democratic debate, a strategy that risks alienating voters as the party seeks to regain the White House. With party divisions over …

Maputo, Mozambique | AFP |  Mozambique has started legal action against a French-Lebanese billionaire, Iskandar Safa, whose shipbuilding company is at the heart of a $2 billion debt scandal, officials said Friday. A source at the attorney general’s office, in an emailed reply to AFP, confirmed “a case is ongoing” …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Pep Guardiola has urged Manchester City to prepare for the “incredible challenge” of battling Liverpool for the Premier League title by landing an early blow against their rivals in Sunday’s Community Shield. Guardiola’s side pipped Liverpool to the Premier League by one point last season …

Beijing, China | AFP | Beijing says it is ready to retaliate if President Donald Trump goes through with his threat to impose punitive tariffs on another $300 billion in Chinese goods on September 1. The 10 percent duties would extend Washington’s border taxes to almost every import from China, with …