Ankara, Turkey | AFP | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday vowed those behind the killings of civilians in the Syrian rebel enclave of Eastern Ghouta would pay a “heavy price”, after an alleged chemical assault killed dozens. “I curse those who carried out this massacre. Whoever has done …

Paris, France | AFP | Remarks by French President Emmanuel Macron that he wanted to repair church-state ties caused uproar Tuesday, sparking charges he was tampering with France’s longstanding secular tradition. The Catholic Church and the state were for centuries virtually indistinguishable in France but the 1789 Revolution and 19th …

People who suffer a sharp drop in wealth experience a 50 percent increased risk of dying. Kampala, Uganda | AGENCIES | An analysis involving more than 8,000 Americans found that those who suffered a “negative wealth shock” — defined as losing at least 75 percent of their wealth in two years …

Metaphors of Buganda or images of exploitation? Kampala, Uganda | DOMINIC MUWANGUZI | A current exhibition of Geoffrey Mukasa’s works at AKA Gallery in Kamwokya, Kampala relieves his bold and controversial portrayal of the human form, especially the female. A painting by Geoffrey Mukasa would never be complete without these women. …

Why it’s so hard for women to ‘just leave’ Kampala, Uganda | DANIEL G. SAUNDERS | “And so I stayed.” In a widely read blog post, Jennifer Willoughby wrote this phrase after each of the many reasons she gave for enduring what she described as her abusive marriage to former White House …

The danger of an emerging international system in a world that is neither liberal nor orderly COMMENT | RICHARD N. HAASS | After a run of nearly one thousand years, quipped the French philosopher and writer Voltaire, the fading Holy Roman Empire was neither holy nor Roman nor an empire. Today, …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s highest court has rejected Oscar Pistorius’s request to appeal against his 13-year jail term, ending the long legal battle over his killing of his girlfriend in 2013. The former Paralympic athlete, 31, had asked the Constitutional Court to review the jail term, which …

Copenhagen, Denmark | AFP | Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his backers “must be held to account” if a suspected poison gas attack on the rebel-held town of Douma is confirmed, British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday. “If confirmed this is yet another example of the Assad regime’s …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari declared Monday he would seek re-election next year, in a move that put an end to months of speculation. “President @Buhari has just announced his intention to seek the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and contest for a …

Madrid, Spain | AFP | The UN World Tourism Organization said Monday it has appointed FC Barcelona’s Argentine star Lionel Messi as an ambassador to promote responsible tourism. “During my travels I have had the opportunity to know other cultures and societies as well as other ways to see the …