Experts react to Museveni strategy Kampala, Uganda | PATRICIA AKANKWATSA | Respond to fire with fire. That appears to be the strategy behind President Yoweri Museveni’s recent restructuring of the police force and deployment of military generals to head four of its 19 directorates. According to security experts, however, more …
Read More »Facebook’s Libra currency under fire
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Facebook’s planned virtual unit Libra, already under heavy attack from US President Donald Trump and global regulators, faces scepticism among the wider cryptocurrency community as well. One theme — besides Brexit — dominated discussion among the movers and shakers from London’s financial technology or …
Read More »Macron to show off Euro defence cooperation at Paris parade
Paris, France | AFP | French President Emmanuel Macron will on Sunday showcase Europe’s defence capabilities by putting European military cooperation at the heart of a Bastille Day parade at a time of growing tensions with the United States. Key EU leaders, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister …
Read More »Desperate for next fix — heroin-based ‘nyaope’ grips S.Africa
Soweto, South Africa | AFP | After helping an elderly woman load her bags into a mini-bus taxi at a busy intersection in Soweto, a scrawny and strung-out young man is rewarded with a few coins for his efforts. High on nyaope, a street drug whose main ingredient is heroin, …
Read More »England eye World Cup glory as New Zealand plot shock
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Eoin Morgan’s England face New Zealand at Lord’s on Sunday desperate to win the World Cup for the first time after four years of hard graft. When England exited the 2015 tournament after an embarrassing defeat by Bangladesh, few tipped them as potential champions four …
Read More »Tax-weary Greek traders welcome change of government
Athens, Greece | AFP | “Once my taxes are paid, at the end of the day I have 20 or 25 euros left in my pocket,” lamented Greek hairdresser Babis Toumbanos. Like him, there are many entrepreneurs in the country who want the new conservative government that emerged from the July …
Read More »Equality is my cause: Serena puts legend King in her place
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Serena Williams delivered a stinging rebuke to fellow tennis legend Billie Jean King who said she should focus on tennis and stop behaving like a celebrity and fighting for equality. King — who was no stranger to fighting for equality for women players when she …
Read More »In Paris, cars forced to make way for the two-wheel revolution
Paris, France | AFP | With the wind rushing through their hair, they zip past on bikes, electric scooters and mono-wheels, effortlessly passing lines of hot-and-bothered drivers stuck in the endless Paris traffic. In the French capital, the new mobility revolution has caught on fast, with locals and tourists embracing …
Read More »Let’s talk about gay penguins: Munich zoo joins Pride week
Munich, Germany | AFP | Organisers of this year’s Gay Pride week in Munich have a group of rather wild partners — penguins, giraffes and lions at the city zoo where tours are being run about same-sex love in the animal kingdom. The Munich zoo has joined Pride week with …
Read More »Brazilian director of refugee odyssey laments far-right attack on artists
Avignon, France | AFP | The reality of her homeland’s lurch to the far right has seen artists branded as leftists and criminals, laments Brazilian director Christiane Jatahy, who only wishes her theatre piece on migration were actually a fiction. The documentary-style work by the 51-year-old Rio-born Jatahy is loosely based …
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