Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump defended Thursday his shock decision to impose a 30-day ban on travel from mainland Europe over the coronavirus pandemic that sent markets into a tailspin and sparked panic among stranded travellers. As the number of cases and fatalities surged in Europe, …
Read More »Trump halts travel from Europe in ‘aggressive’ coronavirus response
Washington, United States | AFP | Donald Trump suspended travel from Europe to the United States for 30 days on Wednesday in an “aggressive” effort to halt the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic. The ban will go into effect from midnight Friday but will not include travelers from Britain, which …
Read More »Scramble to contain coronavirus as infections spread in Europe
Rome, Italy | AFP | Governments worldwide were scrambling to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus Wednesday after fresh infections emerged linked to European hotspot Italy amid dire warnings that countries are not ready to contain the outbreak. Giving most concern on that score in the Middle East, Iran emerged …
Read More »Trump relaunches trade battle with Europe
Davos, Switzerland | AFP | US President Donald Trump relaunched a major trade offensive against Europe on Wednesday, threatening to hit the EU with damaging auto tariffs if Europeans failed to agree a long-delayed trade deal. With observers warning that global harmony on trade was crucial to the health of the …
Read More »Inside Europe’s savior complex
How Western efforts to remake Africa have changed from colonialism to international development assistance THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M. MWENDA | Last week, I was invited to speak on international development assistance (foreign aid) at the geopolitical conference at Makerere University organised by the French embassy and the …
Read More »African players in Europe: Mahrez caps superb display with goal
Paris, France | AFP | Goal scorers Riyad Mahrez, Karl Toko-Ekambi and Jamilu Collins were among the African players who starred at the weekend in the major European leagues. Algerian Mahrez curled a free-kick into the net to give Manchester City the lead a second time at Everton en route to …
Read More »Behind Russia’s growing influence in Africa
Why the new development could be bad news for the US, Europe and India Kampala, Uganda | ISAAC KHISA | As Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, hosts more than 50 African presidents for the first-ever Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi on Oct. 24, top on the agenda will be how to sustain …
Read More »Cooler for parts of Europe, Spain battles wildfires
Paris, France | AFP | A welcome temperature drop came to western parts of Europe on Sunday, after almost a week-long heatwave, but hundreds of Spanish firefighters and soldiers continued to battle three major blazes. France too had to contend with fire in the south of the country — and some …
Read More »Mercury tops 45C in France as deadly heatwave roasts Europe
Carpentras, France | AFP | Temperatures in France surpassed 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit) Friday for the first time on record as Europe sweltered in an early summer heatwave that has caused several deaths. With France, Spain, Italy and parts of central Europe hard hit by the record-breaking temperatures, officials …
Read More »Europeans on alert as heatwave intensifies
Berlin, Germany | AFP | Europe’s record-breaking heatwave was forecast to intensify Thursday, with authorities on alert as temperatures threaten to surpass 40 degrees Celsius in some regions. The stifling heat has prompted traffic restrictions in France, sparked forest fires in Spain and fanned debate in Germany over public nudity as …
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