Sincan, Turkey | AFP | Nearly 500 people appeared in court Tuesday in the biggest trial yet of suspects from Turkey’s failed coup, facing charges of conspiring to oust the government from an air base seen as the plotters’ hub. Forty-one of those held were marched into the court outside Ankara …
Read More »Trump attacks US attorney general as weak on Clinton emails
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump attacked Attorney General Jeff Sessions again on Tuesday, calling him “VERY weak” in pursuing intelligence leaks and failure to go after former Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton over her emails. Trump’s latest Twitter salvo followed a report in the Washington …
Read More »S.Africa confronts apartheid-era custody deaths
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | The brutal death of anti-apartheid campaigner Ahmed Timol was allowed to go quietly unsolved in the interests of South Africa’s democratic reconciliation. But now more than 45 years after he fell from a 10th-floor window at a notorious regime security building and died, Timol’s …
Read More »Gabon probes threats to leader before ICC visit
Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Gabon authorities said Saturday that they were investigating threats by a critic of President Ali Bongo, including an ultimatum to step down before the arrival of an International Criminal Court team next week. The threats included a warning that government buildings had been set with …
Read More »Spanish prosecutors accuse Ronaldo of evading millions in taxes
Madrid, Spain | AFP | Spanish prosecutors on Tuesday accused Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo of evading 14.7 million euros in tax through offshore companies, the latest footballer to fall foul of fiscal authorities. The 32-year-old — the world’s highest paid athlete according to Forbes magazine — follows in the …
Read More »Obstruction of justice and the long road to impeachment
Washington, United States | AFP | Fired FBI director James Comey withheld judgment Thursday on whether President Donald Trump’s requests that he drop an investigation into his former national security advisor amounted to obstruction of justice. Democrats are intent on determining whether Trump’s actions amounted to obstruction, but what does …
Read More »Trump warns sacked FBI chief over media leaks
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump on Friday warned his sacked FBI director against “leaking” information to reporters, as the White House refused to deny that the president records his conversations with visitors. Capping a week in which Trump faced a slew of criticism for firing the …
Read More »The firing of James Comey, as told by the White House
Washington, United States | AFP | Since President Donald Trump’s shock dismissal of FBI director James Comey, the official account of how and why he was sacked has shifted, with Trump appearing on Thursday to contradict the initial version of events. Here is a timeline of explanations provided by the …
Read More »Trump remains defiant
Washington, United States | AFP | The White House Wednesday slapped down calls for a special prosecutor to investigate allegations that Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Russia, after the US president abruptly fired his FBI director. Trump’s shock dismissal of James Comey — the man overseeing federal investigations into suspected …
Read More »White House says no need for special prosecutor on Russia scandal
Washington, United States | AFP | The White House on Wednesday rejected growing calls for a special prosecutor to be appointed to look into Russia’s influence in the 2016 president election. “We don’t think it’s necessary” said White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders, after President Donald Trump’s firing of his …
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