Moscow, Russia | AFP | President Vladimir Putin on Saturday promised “victories” for Russia at a star-studded rally attended by tens of thousands of supporters ahead of a March 18 election he is all but certain to win. Olympic athletes, celebrities and cosmonauts had taken to the stage to voice …
Read More »Trailed by legal woes, Netanyahu to meet ‘true friend’ Trump
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have a brief respite next week from the deluge of legal woes he faces when he heads to Washington to meet US President Donald Trump. Even as he prepared for his trip, Netanyahu was again questioned by police in …
Read More »Mali insecurity continues, migrating to country’s center: UN
United Nations, United States | AFP | Insecurity in Mali “continues to rage” and is progressing toward the center of the country, according to an interim UN report. Members of Plateforme, an armed pro-government coalition, and the CMA rebel alliance, who were signatories to a 2015 peace deal, are seeing …
Read More »Watchdog warns EU leaders ‘weakening’ journalists after murder
Bratislava, Slovakia | AFP | A global media watchdog on Friday warned EU leaders against undermining the security of journalists in the wake of the murder of a Slovak investigative reporter gunned down in his home. Jan Kuciak, who had been probing alleged high-level political corruption in Slovakia linked to …
Read More »Thousands attend protest vigils for slain Slovak journalist
Bratislava, Slovakia | AFP | Thousands flocked to candlelit anti-corruption protests and memorials held across Slovakia on Friday for murdered journalist Jan Kuciak, killed as he was about to publish an explosive report on alleged high-level political corruption linked to the Italian mafia. Organisers estimated that around 25,000 people gathered …
Read More »Kremlin says no interest in US arms race in ‘invincible weapons’ row
Moscow, Russia | AFP | The Kremlin on Friday said Russia will not be part of a new arms race as the United States and NATO voiced concern over Vladimir Putin’s boasts of new “invincible” weapons. Putin stunned the West — and many in Russia — on Thursday by using …
Read More »EU’s Barnier welcomes ‘clarity’ in May Brexit speech
Brussels, Belgium | AFP | The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier on Friday welcomed a key speech on Brexit by British Prime Minister Theresa May, saying she had brought “clarity”. Barnier said May’s highly-anticipated address in London, in which she said said it was time to face up to …
Read More »Arrests after Burundi president ‘roughed up’ on football field
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Two Burundi officials have been arrested after their town’s football team allegedly “roughed up” President Pierre Nkurunziza who was playing during a match with his personal team, legal sources and witnesses said Friday. A legal source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the administrator …
Read More »Buhari under pressure over Boko Haram abduction, attacks
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Another Boko Haram mass kidnapping has cast doubts on Nigeria’s claims to have virtually defeated the jihadists, putting the government under scrutiny as elections approach next year. Heavily armed Islamist militants abducted 110 girls from their school in Dapchi, in Yobe state, northeast Nigeria, on …
Read More »US accuses Russia of breaching treaties with ‘invincible’ weapons
Washington, United States | AFP | The United States has accused Moscow of openly breaching Cold War-era treaties by developing what Russian President Vladimir Putin called a new generation of “invincible” hypersonic weapons and submarines. Putin unveiled the new arsenal Thursday in a state of the nation address, challenging Washington …
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