Parkland, United States | AFP | Authorities in Florida could offer no explanation Wednesday night as to why a former student armed with an AR-15 rifle opened fire at a high school earlier that day, killing at least 17 people. Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel identified the gunman as Nikolas …
Read More »Being a single dad can shorten your life: study
Paris, France | AFP | The risk of dying prematurely more than doubles for single fathers compared to single mothers or paired-up dads, according to a study of Canadian families published Thursday. “Our research highlights that single fathers have higher mortality, and demonstrates the need for public health policies to …
Read More »Zanzibaris challenge union with Tanzania in regional court
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Separatist campaigners on the East African island of Zanzibar have appealed to a regional court to challenge the legality of its union with mainland Tanzania, they said Thursday. Rashid Salum Adiy, head of the Zanzibar Rights of Freedom and Autonomy (Zarfa) organisation, a group not …
Read More »State-owned enterprises saddled with losses
BoU, UEDCL and Mandela National Stadium listed amongst those in red Kampala, Uganda | JULIUS BUSINGE | Uganda’s state-owned enterprises seem to be bleeding. The latest Auditor General’s report shows that five out of the 29 state owned enteprises recorded losses in the recent two consecutive years. They include; Bank of …
Read More »Zuma, S.Africa’s unseated survivor
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | The normally calm and often jovial Jacob Zuma is a former herdboy who fought in the anti-apartheid struggle and clung on to the presidency for as long as he could, despite a string of scandals. Now aged 75, he survived by building a network …
Read More »MSF reveals sex abuse cases as Oxfam scandal widens
Paris, France | AFP | A scandal over sexual abuse in the foreign aid industry that began with Oxfam spread Wednesday, as French group Doctors Without Borders revealed it had fired 19 staff last year for harassment or abuse. The Paris-based group, known by its French acronym MSF, said it …
Read More »Trump pushes immigration plan as Senate mulls narrower path
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump on Wednesday was on a collision course over immigration with US senators including some within his own party, as they struggled to reach a solution protecting 1.8 million immigrants from deportation. With senators racing against a self-imposed deadline to strike a …
Read More »Zuma’s reluctant exit ushers in new S.African president
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa readied to welcome wealthy former businessman Cyril Ramaphosa as its new president Thursday after scandal-tainted Jacob Zuma resigned under intense pressure from his own party. Zuma announced he had stepped down in a late-night television address in which he took some digs …
Read More »At least 19 migrants killed in Libya truck crash: hospital
Tripoli, Libya | AFP | At least 19 migrants were killed on Wednesday and more than 100 injured when the truck transporting them crashed in Libya, a hospital said. Over 300 migrants, mostly Eritrean and Somali nationals, were on board the vehicle which overturned near the town of Bani Walid. …
Read More »147 activists face death penalty in E.Guinea: lawyer
Malabo, Equatorial Guinea | AFP | Equatorial Guinea’s public prosecutor is seeking the death penalty in the trial of 147 opposition activists accused of “rebellion,” their lawyer said on Wednesday. The activists, including senior officials of the main opposition party, the Citizens for Innovation (CI), were arrested following elections in …
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