Washington, United States | AFP | IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde urged global leaders Wednesday not to reject international trade as policy shifts by Washington and London force resets on major global commercial treaties. Lagarde admitted that the rapid lowering of trade barriers in recent decades had caused significant dislocation, including …
Read More »Barcelona must remain in La Liga – club director
Barcelona, Spain | AFP | Barcelona must remain in Spain’s La Liga, club general director Oscar Grau said on Wednesday following the signing by Catalan leaders of a declaration of independence. “The budgets are based on participation in La Liga. I think that La Liga and Barca must continue together,” Grau …
Read More »Togo bans marches hours after opposition announces one
Lome, Togo | AFP | The Togo government on Tuesday announced a ban on all midweek marches, hours after the opposition announced plans for a rally next week in a campaign aimed at forcing out President Faure Gnassingbe. From Monday to Friday “all marches are banned. People can meet in a …
Read More »The rise of Kim Jong-Un’s sister and image maker
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | With her elevation to North Korea’s powerful politburo, leader Kim Jong-Un’s little sister — and chief image-maker — has established herself as the most powerful woman in the nuclear-armed state’s political hierarchy. Kim Yo-Jong’s promotion to membership of the North’s top decision-making body underlines, analysts …
Read More »Results expected Wednesday afternoon in vote to replace Liberia’s Sirleaf
Monrovia, Liberia | AFP | Counting was under way in Liberia on Wednesday following a peaceful poll that will determine President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s successor after 12 years and complete a historic democratic transfer of power. The first official results in the presidential and legislative elections are expected on Wednesday …
Read More »Mugabe reshuffle cracks down on dissent: state media
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s cabinet reshuffle quashed opposition within his government, state media said Tuesday, as the 93-year-old leader prepares to stand again in elections next year. Mugabe stripped Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa of his role as justice minister, reassigned the finance minister and created a …
Read More »Trump loses a key ally as Republican senator bites back
Washington, United States | AFP | Donald Trump has often lambasted potential allies from his own party but now a Republican has punched back, alleging that the president’s reckless behavior poses a danger to America. Senator Bob Corker’s extraordinary weekend rebuke, in which he tweeted his dismay that “the White …
Read More »Nigerian state oil firm hits back at graft claims
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s state-run oil firm on Monday hit back at claims of corruption from a senior government minister that have put President Muhammadu Buhari’s war on graft in the spotlight. The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) said the allegations made by junior oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu …
Read More »US risks sparking North Korea ‘escalation’: Lavrov
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday warned his US counterpart Rex Tillerson that Washington risks sparking an unacceptable escalation in tensions with North Korea. In a phone call with US Secretary of State Tillerson, Lavrov “stressed the unacceptability of an escalation of tensions on …
Read More »S.African families battle to uncover apartheid truth
Hammanskraal, South Africa | AFP | Time is running out for 95-year-old Phillip Mabelane. For 40 years he has waited to discover the truth of how his son died at the hands of police during South Africa’s apartheid era. Now the reopening of a similar case has given him hope that …
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