Pretoria, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s anti-corruption watchdog Wednesday called for prosecutors to investigate alleged criminal activity as it released a report into President Jacob Zuma that fuelled further calls for him to resign. Zuma, whose presidency has been engulfed by multiple scandals, had fought to block the …
Read More »Party drugs haul worth $450 mn seized in India, Bollywood producer held
New Delhi, India | AFP | Millions of tablets of a recreational drug with an estimated street value of nearly $450 million have been seized and a Bollywood film producer has been arrested in western India, officials said Wednesday. More than 20 million tablets of the banned drug Mandrax were …
Read More »Brisbane bus driver burnt alive by passenger
Sydney, Australia | AFP | A passenger doused a bus driver with inflammable liquid and burned him to death in front of horrified passengers in the Australian city of Brisbane on Friday, police said. There was no apparent motive for the killing of the 29-year-old man named by local media …
Read More »Lengthy drug tunnel found under US-Mexico border
Mexico City, Mexico | AFP | Authorities have discovered 2.3 tons of marijuana in a lengthy illicit tunnel connecting the Mexican city Tijuana to San Diego in the United States, the Mexican Attorney General said Monday. The 1847-foot (563-meter) long passage was found after agents of the attorney general requested …
Read More »Elderly luxury hotel boss kidnapped in Cannes
Nice, France | AFP | The head of a five-star hotel in the French resort town of Cannes was kidnapped on Monday, the local prosecutor said. Jacqueline Veyrach, 76, president of the Grand Hotel in Cannes, was seized from her car in the middle of the day near her home …
Read More »172 inmates escape Haiti prison, 2 dead
Port-au-Prince, Haiti | AFP | At least 172 inmates escaped a Haitian prison near the capital Port-au-Prince during an armed mutiny, killing one guard and many escaping with police weapons, local media reported. Le Nouvelliste newspaper quoted Arcahaie prison manager Heurtelou Paul Colson on Saturday as saying a guard was …
Read More »Somali pirates free 26 hostages held for nearly five years
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Somali pirates have freed 26 Asian hostages held for nearly five years after the hijacking of their fishing vessel, the last commercial ship seized at the height of the country’s piracy scourge, negotiators said Saturday. The crew of the Naham 3, the second longest held …
Read More »Security raised on London Tube after arrest
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Security has been stepped up on the London Underground network, police said Saturday, following the arrest of a 19-year-old man after a suspicious item was discovered on a Tube train. “The public will see more officers, including armed police, in and around transport hubs,” …
Read More »African leaders tackle piracy, illegal fishing at Lome summit
Lome, Togo | AFP | Stemming the astronomical losses caused by crime in the oceans surrounding Africa is the focus of a major continental summit on Saturday in the Togolese capital, Lome. “Over recent decades, the accumulated revenue losses resulting directly from illegal activities in the African maritime sector add …
Read More »US vows response to Russian hack at ‘time and place of our choosing’
Washington, United States | AFP | Directly accusing Russia of trying to manipulate the 2016 US presidential election, the United States on Friday issued a stark warning that it would act when it wants to protect its interests. “We will take action to protect our interests, including in cyberspace, and …
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