NEWS ANALYSIS

Palm Springs, United States | AFP | Bubblegum pop coquette on the outside, saucy master of celebrity on the inside, there is perhaps no current star better at re-fashioning her own trials into larger-than-life success than Ariana Grande. While suffering a highly publicized burst of personal and professional upheaval — …

Pilani, India | AFP | One of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s signature policies has been protecting cows, but for Raghuvir Singh Meena — a Hindu farmer struggling to protect his crop of chickpeas from roaming cattle — it has gone too far. Farmers overwhelmingly supported Modi’s nationalist party when …

Washington, United States | AFP | The US government has regarded WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange as a dangerous national security threat ever since he and his organization opened a decade-long effort to expose US secrets — from military files to embarrassing Democratic Party emails during the 2016 election. But Assange’s …

  Paris, France | AFP |  The draw for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations takes place in Cairo on Friday in a country that was only handed the task of organising the tournament in January. Egypt faces a race against time to be ready for the June 21 kick-off. …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Jubilation in Khartoum that Sudan’s era of iron-fisted rule by Omar al-Bashir was ending Thursday quickly soured when protesters realised the old regime had no plans to go. “Change will not happen with Bashir’s entire regime hoodwinking Sudanese civilians through a military coup,” tweeted Alaa …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP |  Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir, long wanted on genocide and war crimes charges, was finally brought down in a popular uprising by the very people he ruled with an iron fist for 30 years. One of Africa’s longest-serving presidents, the 75-year-old had remained defiant in the …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Here are key dates in Sudan since Omar al-Bashir seized power three decades ago, after he was ousted on Thursday by the military following months of protests against his iron-fisted rule. – 1989: coup – In June 1989 army brigadier Bashir and a group of …

  Paris, France | AFP |  Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, ousted by the army Thursday after months of anti-government protests, ruled with an iron fist since seizing power in a 1989 coup. Here are key dates in his life and career. – January 1, 1944: Bashir is born to a …

  Cannes, France | AFP | Reality television shows like “Big Brother” and “Love Island” have been blamed for helping create the Instagram aesthetic of perfect, bronzed hairless bodies. But a new show is trying to repair the damage unrealistic standards are doing to people’s body image. “Naked Beach” is …

Colorado Springs, United States | AFP | With constellations of thousands of telecommunication mini satellites expected to orbit Earth in the near future, the risk of space-debris collisions will grow. For Nobu Okada, it’s an opportunity. The 46-year-old Japanese entrepreneur founded the start-up Astroscale in Singapore in 2013 with the …