Paris, France | AFP | Burundi’s brutal regime has set the small central African country on a “descent into hell”, a prominent human rights group said Tuesday, warning of the risk of genocide. “Since April 2015, when large popular protests broke out against the decision of President Pierre Nkurunziza to …

Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russian Economy Minister Alexei Ulyukayev was sacked Tuesday and put under house arrest on suspicion of pocketing a two-million-dollar bribe in a deal involving state-controlled oil giant Rosneft. Ulyukayev is the highest ranking official detained over suspected corruption since President Vladimir Putin took power in …

Washington, United States | AFP | Google and Facebook moved Tuesday to cut off advertising revenue to bogus news sites, acting after criticism of the role fake news played in the US presidential election. “We’ve been working on an update to our publisher policies and will start prohibiting Google ads …

New York, United States | AFP |  Donald Trump huddled with Vice president-elect Mike Pence on Tuesday to nail down their next round of cabinet appointments, amid reports of intense infighting over the key posts. The Republican billionaire drew a barrage of criticism over his pick of chief strategist: the …

Berlin, Germany | AFP |  Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel intends to stand for a fourth term in next September’s elections, a close political ally said Tuesday. “She will run for the post of chancellor,” Norbert Roettgen, a senior member of Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, told US television channel …

Washington, United States | AFP | Twitter on Tuesday began rolling out a new weapon in the fight against harassment by “trolls” whose often anonymous vitriol can make the messaging service an unwelcoming place. The move comes as online social networks struggle to balance free speech with intimidation and aggression …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Congolese President Joseph Kabila on Tuesday defied calls to step down when his term ends next month and vowed during remarks to lawmakers to defend his government against violent overthrow. His defiant speech to parliament came as criticism grows following a controversial deal between …

Kathmandu, Nepal | AFP |  Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal called his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi Tuesday to find out how Nepalis could exchange Indian rupees they hold in the now banned denominations. The two countries share a long border and close cultural ties, and many Nepalis hold large …

New York, United States | AFP | Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has taken stakes in three large US airlines, in a $1.3 billion bet that marks a sharp U-turn of his antagonistic views on the sector. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. invested $797 million in American Airlines, $249 million in Delta …

Beijing, China | AFP |  Chinese state-run media lauded Donald Trump Tuesday after a phone call between him and President Xi Jinping, saying that the president-elect’s emergence could mark a “reshaping” of Sino-American relations. The pair spoke Monday, when Xi said that the two powers needed to co-operate and Trump’s …