Buenos Aires, Argentina | AFP |  If upcoming Vatican-backed talks between Venezuela’s bitterly antagonistic government and opposition fail, the result could well be “bloodshed,” a papal envoy warned Saturday. “If one delegation or the other ends the dialogue, it’s not the pope but the Venezuelan people who will lose, because …

Sofia, Bulgaria | AFP |  Five Bulgarian nurses jailed for eight years in Libya over an HIV epidemic at a children’s hospital welcomed on Saturday media reports accusing Kadhafi-era spies of deliberately infecting the infants. The five nurses, who along with a Palestinian doctor, became known as the “Benghazi six” …

Washington, United States | AFP |  US software giant Oracle said Saturday that it has sealed its $9.3 billion acquisition of cloud computing company NetSuite. Oracle said that a majority of shares — 53 percent — owned by eligible stockholders in the vote had been tendered. The acquisition is to …

Paris, France | AFP | A French soldier deployed in a counter-terrorism force in Mali died overnight from injuries sustained in a mine blast, the defence ministry said Saturday. The jihadist group Ansar Dine, which has ties to Al-Qaeda, claimed the attack on social media, saying it took place some …

Rome, Italy | AFP |  An Italian priest has said the recent earthquakes that have shaken the country, killing hundreds and leaving tens of thousands homeless, were “divine punishment” for gay civil unions, earning the Vatican’s wrath. Father Giovanni Cavalcoli, a theologian known for his hardline views, made the comments …

Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Saturday Nigerian troops on Saturday rescued another of the missing Chibok schoolgirls seized by Boko Haram Islamists, in an operation near the border with Cameroon, a spokesman said. The girl, found along with her baby son, was one of the more than 200 schoolgirls taken …

Banjul, Gambia | AFP |  The Gambia’s first ever female presidential candidate has withdrawn from the race and will endorse the single opposition candidate challenging President Yahya Jammeh, she said Saturday. In a statement sent to AFP, Isatou Touray said she was dropping out of the contest “so as to …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s embattled President Jacob Zuma put on a brave face Saturday at his first public appearance since the release of fresh evidence of alleged corruption at the top of the ANC government. “I have spent a lot of time in jail. I am …

The High Court has dismissed an application filed by Sarah Kulata Basangwa, the interdicted former Commissioner for Land Registration Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban development, seeking to halt a probe against her. The application sought to block an investigation by a committee put in place by the Lands Minister Betty Amongi …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | “The dream becomes reality”, “Our son, our hope”: the headlines in the Kenyan press in 2008 captured pride and excitement after the election of Barack Obama. Eight years later, enthusiasm for the outgoing president has faded on a continent that he is accused of forsaking. …