Thursday , November 7 2024

The Independent

S.Africa coal belt among world’s pollution hotspots: Greenpeace

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s eastern Mpumalanga province has the most polluting cluster of coal-fired power stations in the world producing record levels of nitrogen dioxide, a report by environmental campaign group Greenpeace said Monday. Mpumalanga, which borders Mozambique, is the hub of South Africa’s coal industry …

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Merkel on the spot after painful regional vote

Frankfurt am Main, Germany | AFP | German Chancellor Angela Merkel faces a bitter political reality on Monday after the parties in her fragile coalition suffered heavy losses in a key regional election and a junior partner made threats to quit. Sunday’s blow for Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU) …

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Libya’s south falls prey to foreign armed groups

Tripoli, Libya | AFP | Neglected by rival authorities in Tripoli and the country’s east, Libya’s southern desert has increasingly become a hideout for foreign rebel groups that stand accused of stoking growing insecurity. “Kidnapping, theft and banditry have multiplied” in the region, said Ali Akri Molia, commander of a …

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Gabon president hospitalised ‘due to exhaustion’

Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Gabonese President Ali Bongo, hospitalised in Saudi Arabia since Wednesday, was taken into medical care after suffering a bout of exhaustion during a trip to Riyadh, his office said Sunday. The 59-year-old leader was in the Saudi capital for a flagship economic forum when he …

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Liberia’s Weah announces free tuition for undergraduates

Monrovia, Liberia | AFP | Liberian President George Weah, who overcame childhood poverty to become one of the world’s top footballers, has abolished tuition fees for undergraduate students in the poor West African country’s state universities. Speaking Wednesday on the campus of the University of Liberia in the name of …

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Twitter tops earnings estimates, lifting shares

Washington, United States | AFP | Twitter reported Thursday stronger-than-expected profits and revenues in the third quarter, igniting a strong rally in shares of the key social network. The San Francisco group delivered a $789 million profit, including one-time gains, compared to a net loss of $21 million in the …

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Bududa: Gov’t to release sh32 billion for relocation

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Cabinet has directed the Ministry of Finance to release 32.75 billion shillings to facilitate the relocation of 6,300 people at high risk of landslides in Bududa to Bulambuli district. At least 43 people were last week killed and over 800 displaced when mudslides swept Bukalasi, …

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