United Nations, United States | AFP | Former British prime minister Gordon Brown on Thursday called for a war crimes investigation of the deadly strike on a school in Syria that killed 22 children. “This is the worst assault on school children among 98 separate attacks on Syrian schools in …
Read More »A sledgehammer and a glass ceiling: offbeats from the White House race
Washington, United States | AFP | Taking a sledgehammer to Donald Trump’s Walk of Fame star, a vast glass ceiling for Hillary Clinton on Election Night and fur flies on Fox News: here is a rundown of telling moments from the campaign trail as the White House race hits its …
Read More »‘British PM Theresa May a master of dodging questions’
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Theresa May is in a class of her own when it comes to not answering questions, according to analysis of her major interviews since becoming Britain’s prime minister. Such is her niche skill that researchers had to come up with a brand new category …
Read More »Taxes, love: The more we lie, the easier it gets
Slippery slope: the more we lie, the easier it gets Paris, France | AFP | Whether cheating on taxes or one’s lover, the little lies we tell can quickly escalate into big ones, according to a study released Monday that describes dishonesty as a “slippery slope”. Serial untruths, moreover, register …
Read More »Tales from South Sudan war
This October, there have been reports of many Ugandans returning to South Sudan where many suffered during the recent deadly clashes in parts of the country. And, with the volatility that has wrecked the newly independent country, it is always a matter of time before another round of clashes takes …
Read More »Forever Trump: Diehard supporters’ rallying cry
Johnstown, United States | AFP | Pundits and pollsters say the bottom may be falling out of Donald Trump’s White House run, but diehard supporters in the western Pennsylvania city of Johnstown strongly disagree. A few hours’ drive north and west from liberal Washington, Johnstown — the beating heart of …
Read More »Assange, Ecuador’s awkward guest who just won’t leave
Quito, Ecuador | AFP | For Ecuador, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has become the worst kind of guest: he makes messes he doesn’t clean up, he spills secrets, he meddles, and there’s no telling when he will leave. Four years after Assange sought refuge in the Ecuadoran embassy in London, …
Read More »Guitarist Ouma on choosing Jazz
Myko Ouma self-effacingly dismisses it when I tell him he is considered by many people to be one of the best guitarists in the country. “About best guitarist, I don’t know,” he says. In reality, he is a renowned jazz and contemporary world music artiste who plays more than ten …
Read More »How much is child soldier’s lost youth worth? ICC asks
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | “How do you calculate a lost childhood?” That was the question Tuesday before war crimes judges trying to set the amount of landmark reparations to be paid to former Congolese child soldiers. After years of hearings, trials and appeals before the International Criminal Court …
Read More »Protectionism a scourge? Maybe not in Africa
Washington, United States | AFP | World economic leaders gathered in Washington this week to defend globalization, delivering a single message in unison: Protectionism will not save you. But this glosses over the plight of Africa, which is sinking further into poverty despite years of free trade. According to the …
Read More »