Features

Darmstadt, Germany | AFP | Europe’s ground-breaking quest to unravel the Solar System’s mysteries concludes Friday with the Rosetta comet chaser crashlanding onto the cosmic wanderer’s rocky surface. The mission, summarised in numbers: 1: Rosetta became the first spacecraft, in August 2014, to enter the orbit of a comet. In …

Stockholm, Sweden | AFP | It’s serendipity: from America to Viagra, history is full of great discoveries helped along by chance, as more than a century of Nobel prizes can attest. Among the chance discoveries that have been honoured with the prestigious prize are X-rays (physics, 1901), penicillin (medicine, 1945), …

Washington, United States | AFP | Arnold Palmer, the golf great whose charisma and common touch drew a legion of fans known as “Arnie’s Army” and propelled the game into the mainstream, died Sunday at the age of 87. Palmer’s longtime assistant Doc Griffin confirmed the player known as “The …

Aleppo, Syria | AFP |  For Karam al-Masri, AFP’s reporter, photographer and videojournalist in rebel-held Aleppo, the past five years have been a series of tragedies: detention by the regime, and then the Islamic State group, the death of his parents in an air strike, the siege of his hometown, …

Witchcraft, poor roadwork and dangerous driving — all have been blamed for the killer highway whose users will often turn to prayer before taking the road. Mpigi, Uganda | AFP | Wearing pristine white with her woollen socks pulled high, Ugandan traffic police officer Edith Nanteza exudes natural authority at …

Foreigners could take lion’s share of oil and gas jobs as Uganda lags behind in building local capacity The government recently issued eight production licences to Tullow Uganda Operations Pty Ltd and Total E&P Uganda BV, a development that gives the oil companies the green light to finally proceed with …

Maiduguri, Nigeria | AFP | The soldier clutched his book with both hands. He shouted his name, rank and Nigerian Army number to no-one in particular. He stood up straight and ended every reply with a bark of “sah” (sir). But his eyes were fixed to a slowly cranking ceiling …

Paris, France | AFP |  Gabon’s disputed election, which culminated Saturday with the constitutional court’s confirmation of President Ali Bongo’s victory, is the latest in a long list of violence-tinged ballots in Africa:   Ivory Coast  After a five-month-standoff, incumbent Laurent Gbagbo was detained on April 11, 2011 by forces …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | In one selfless act Olympic triathlon champion Alastair Brownlee erased the fratricidal image of Cain killing Abel as he helped his stricken brother Jonny over the line in the World Series event in Mexico. However, with praise raining down on him Alastair’s blunt no …

Anand, India | AFP | At a hostel for dozens of pregnant women, impoverished widow Sharmila Mackwan weighs up her decision to carry twins for another couple — her only ticket out of poverty — as the government moves to close India’s multi-million dollar surrogacy industry. She has left her …