NEWS ANALYSIS

Paris, France | AFP | The imminent fall of the Islamic State’s caliphate in Iraq and Syria has left many countries grappling with what to do with jihadists who want to return. Several hundred foreign jihadists are being detained by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the main fighters on the …

Washington, United States | AFP | He holds no official government position but has been called US President Donald Trump’s “shadow” chief of staff. Fox News commentator Sean Hannity is one of several conservative media personalities who exert enormous influence over the president. Their clout has been on display as …

Washington, United States | AFP | A tweet by a popular US Congresswoman spotlighted a report about US tech behemoth Amazon’s tax burden for the past two years. While the company paid no US federal income tax, it reported “cash taxes paid” of $1.2 billion last year and $957 million in …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s electoral watchdog on Saturday postponed presidential and parliamentary elections for one week, just hours before polls were due to open. The two main political parties swiftly condemned the move and accused each other of orchestrating the delay as a way of manipulating the vote. …

Munich, Germany | AFP | At least 100,000 babies die every year because of armed conflict and its impact, from hunger to denial of aid, Save the Children International said on Friday. In the 10 worst-hit countries, a conservative estimate of 550,000 infants died as a result of fighting between 2013 …

Paris, France | AFP | The scratching of the superjumbo jet Airbus A380 echoes the sad fate of the supersonic Concorde, another feat of aviation technology that turned out to be a commercial flop. – Concorde, supersonic speeds – The inaugural commercial flight on January 21, 1976 of Concorde, the world’s …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Global energy demand will surge by a third over the next two decades on advancing prosperity, but Indian demand growth will eclipse that of flagging giant China, Britain’s BP forecast Thursday. “The demand for energy is set to increase significantly driven by increases in prosperity …

New York, United States | AFP | Face tattoos, once limited to only a very small group of people, have gained new popularity thanks to today’s rappers — but some artists are reluctant to make such a permanent change to a client’s appearance. In New York’s East Village, some of …

Washington, United States | AFP | During 14 years of intrepid exploration across Mars, it advanced human knowledge by confirming that water once flowed on the red planet — but NASA’s Opportunity rover has analyzed its last soil sample. The robot has been missing since the US space agency lost …

Miami, United States | AFP | On Valentine’s Day of last year, a 19-year-old armed with a military-style assault rifle walked into his old high school in Parkland, Florida and slaughtered 17 people. That spasm in America’s epidemic of gun violence gave new impetus to the debate on controlling firearms, …