Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari was elected in 2015 on a wave of hope that he could defeat Boko Haram Islamists and turn around a country blighted by decades of corruption and poor governance. But while he will go down in history as Nigeria’s first opposition candidate to defeat an incumbent, …
Read More »Twitter hammered as user losses overshadow improving finances
Washington, United States | AFP | Twitter shares took a pounding Thursday as an unsettling update on its global user base offset upbeat figures on revenues and profits in the past quarter. Shares skidded 9.8 percent to close at $30.80 following Twitter’s fourth quarter update, which showed a consistent profit trend …
Read More »With eye on 2020, Trump seizes on abortion issue
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump is proposing a congressional ban on late-term abortions as he seeks to expand his conservative support ahead of the 2020 election. In a State of the Union speech that had been billed as promoting unity, Trump seized upon one of the most …
Read More »Facebook restructures kids team in quest for youth
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Facebook on Thursday announced it had restructured its team devoted to products or features designed to increase the social network’s appeal to younger generations. Nascent projects such as a “LOL” platform for funny memes were taken off the board at the “youth team,” which …
Read More »Emiliano Sala – the unorthodox Argentine striker made in France
Nantes, France | AFP | He was born in Argentina, made his name in France but lost his life over the English Channel on his way to play for a Welsh club. On Thursday, it was confirmed that a body recovered by British investigators from the submerged wreckage of …
Read More »Can the second Trump-Kim summit end the Korean War?
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | The second summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has raised hopes for the longest ceasefire in history to be replaced by a peace treaty. Seoul and Pyongyang remain technically at war after the 1950-53 Korean War ended with …
Read More »A look to the future: Nigeria’s first-time voters
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s upcoming presidential elections are the sixth to be held since civilian rule was restored in 1999 and the first to involve voters with no experience of military government. AFP spoke to some first-time voters in Africa’s most populous country to find out what …
Read More »Italy lectures France on Africa
Italian leaders irk Paris by backing the Yellow Jackets and denouncing French colonialism ANALYSIS | Hannah Roberts | The 5Star Movement’s attempt to blame migrant deaths in the Mediterranean on Paris says more about the dire state of the Italian ruling coalition than the French colonial legacy in Africa. Paris was …
Read More »May, Juncker hold ‘robust’ Brexit meet, agree new talks
Brussels, Belgium | AFP | Britain and the EU agreed Thursday to hold more talks to try to avoid a no-deal Brexit, after a “robust” meeting between Prime Minister Theresa May and European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker. A joint statement issued after the talks in Brussels said Juncker had again warned that November’s withdrawal agreement …
Read More »Emerging economies catching up in smartphone adoption: survey
Washington, United States | AFP | Smartphone use has become the norm in most developed nations, while many emerging economies are showing sharp gains, a global survey showed Tuesday. The Pew Research Center report found strong majorities of adults using smartphones in the world’s wealthier countries, led by 95 percent …
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