Washington, United States | AFP | Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman was placed under house arrest Monday, as an investigation into Russia’s manipulation of the 2016 election shifted to a new and more perilous stage for the White House. After a first wave of indictments were unsealed, Paul Manafort and …
Read More »Saudis to open sports stadiums to women in reform push
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia | AFP | Saudi Arabia will allow women into sports stadiums for the first time from next year, authorities said Sunday, in a landmark move opening up three previously male-only venues to families. The ultra-conservative kingdom, which has some of the world’s tightest restrictions on women, has long …
Read More »N. Korea’s Kim tours cosmetics plant with wife, sister
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un took his stylish wife and powerful sister to a make-up plant for a “field guidance trip” amid the country’s nuclear standoff with the US. During a visit to the Pyongyang Cosmetics Factory in the capital, Kim hailed its “world-level” products …
Read More »Crunch day for Catalonia as Madrid takes control
Barcelona, Spain | AFP | Spain enters uncharted and potentially perilous territory on Monday as Madrid moves to take over the running of Catalonia in response to the rebellious region’s parliament unilaterally declaring independence. Catalan leaders, dramatically sacked late Friday by the central Spanish government, have urged “democratic opposition” to …
Read More »Real Madrid lose in troubled Catalonia
Girona, Spain | AFP | Real Madrid suffered a backlash on the field rather than from an expected hostile atmosphere amid political turmoil in Catalonia as they slumped to a shock 2-1 defeat at Girona on Sunday. Goals from Cristhian Stuani and Portu in four second-half minutes cancelled out Isco’s …
Read More »Uganda’s Donald Trump
How frustration with Museveni has led us to abandon reality and embrace demagoguery THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | October 20 | Last week, newly elected Member of Parliament for Kyadondo East, Robert Kyagulanyi, issued what he called a “Letter to Young Ugandans.” In it, he …
Read More »Business leaders bow to Xi as Communist Party pushes in
Beijing, China | AFP | Chinese billionaires are boasting about their Marxist bonafides. The Communist Party is tightening its grip on state-owned companies. And foreign companies are being asked to invite party cells into their offices. Under President Xi Jinping, the country’s ruling party is muscling back into business, expanding …
Read More »Hillary Clinton marks painful date with Twitter quip
Washington, United States | AFP | Hillary Clinton got a reminder that exactly one year ago, then FBI director James Comey said he was re-opening a probe into her emails. “Oh is that today?” the former Democratic presidential candidate quipped on Twitter late Saturday, in response to a post by …
Read More »S.Africa economy in dire straits as political stakes rise
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s finance minister received some faint praise last week — not for the economy’s performance, but for admitting the country is in a dire position that is set to get worse. Malusi Gigaba delivered a mid-term budget that laid bare South Africa’s …
Read More »‘Bigotry seems emboldened’: George W. Bush slams Trump-era politics
New York, United States | AFP | George W. Bush issued a sharp denunciation of bigotry, white supremacy and falsehoods on Thursday, in what was seen as a clear rebuke of politics in the age of President Donald Trump. In a New York speech, the two-term former president warned that …
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