NEWS ANALYSIS

Paris, France | AFP | They appeared in June last year as Paris was waking up from its annual all-night Festival of Music: hundreds of green-and-black electric scooters dotting the pavements of the capital. The timing was perfect, with the city struggling with a botched revamp of its main bike-sharing service …

Paris, France | AFP |  Acute malnutrition, forced labour, torture: NGOs have sharpened their tone against the shocking conditions endured by refugees and migrants in Libya, where over 40 people were killed in an air strike on a detention centre. Tuesday night’s strike on the centre at Tajoura near the capital …

Algiers, Algeria | AFP | Algeria’s interim president Abdelkader Bensalah has called for a national dialogue to prepare for delayed presidential elections, vowing that the state and the military would remain neutral in the process. What does the proposal mean in a country wracked by months of anti-government protests that led …

Zarzis, Tunisia | AFP |  A traumatised young Malian plucked out of the sea off Tunisia after clinging for two days to debris from an inflatable which sank told Thursday of how more than 80 migrants are feared drowned. The latest tragedy came to light the same week as 44 migrants …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP |  Sudan’s ruling generals and protest leaders reached an agreement on the disputed issue of a new governing body Friday, in a breakthrough power sharing accord aimed at ending the country’s months-long political crisis. The landmark agreement came after two days of talks following the collapse of …

Manchester, United Kingdom | AFP |  South Africa’s Imran Tahir is readying himself for an emotional farewell to one-day international cricket, although the veteran is upbeat about the Proteas’ future. Saturday’s World Cup match against reigning champions Australia is set to be Tahir’s 107th and last ODI before the leg-spinner bows …

Lyon, France | AFP |  For just the second time in the history of the women’s World Cup, there will be female coaches on both benches for the final as Sarina Wiegman’s Netherlands take on holders the United States, coached by Jill Ellis, on Sunday. Only nine of the 24 teams …

  Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Twebaze Bemanya, the Registrar General, Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB), will remain the administrator of Uganda Telecom and continue with the process of identifying an investor to partner with government to revamp it, President Yoweri Museveni has directed. The president’s directive was first …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Frank Lampard has accepted the challenge of taking over Chelsea just one year into his managerial career as the return of the club’s record goalscorer to Stamford Bridge was confirmed on Thursday. Chelsea’s latest managerial search following Maurizio Sarri’s move to Juventus has seen a …

Stockholm, Sweden | AFP |   Honour, debts, and prestige are serving as the pretext for an increasing number of deadly shootings that challenge the ideals of equality and social harmony on which modern Sweden was built. “You strengthen your own gang by eliminating an external threat and you gain prestige,” …