Paris, France | AFP | French police on Monday arrested 17 people, most of them with records for organised crime, over the robbery of US reality TV star Kim Kardashian in Paris last October, police sources said. Police swooped in the Paris region and the south of France after DNA …
Read More »Drunk pilot arrested after fainting in cockpit
Montreal, Canada | AFP | A Sunwing pilot was arrested Saturday after being found intoxicated in a plane he was about to maneuver out of Calgary airport in western Canada. The 37-year-old man was found drunk shortly after 7:00 am (1200 GMT) in the cockpit of the plane he was …
Read More »Burundi minister assassinated
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Burundi’s environment minister was shot dead in the capital Bujumbura early Sunday, police said, the first killing of its kind since the country was plunged into political turmoil two years ago. Emmanuel Niyonkuru, 54, the country’s water, environment and planning minister, was killed shortly after …
Read More »Yahoo hack shows data as tool of information warfare
Washington, United States | AFP | The massive hack affecting a billion Yahoo users shows how seemingly innocuous bits of data gleaned from cyber attacks can be exploited for profit — and potentially for espionage and information warfare. The latest breach disclosed Wednesday is the largest on record and comes …
Read More »‘Dronejacking’ may be the next big cyber threat
Washington, United States | AFP | A big rise in drone use is likely to lead to a new wave of “dronejackings” by cybercriminals, security experts warned Tuesday. A report by Intel’s McAfee Labs said hackers are expected to start targeting drones used for deliveries, law enforcement or camera crews, …
Read More »Burundi president’s spokesman Willy Nyamwite escapes assassination
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | A top advisor to Burundi’s president and the most public face of the government, Willy Nyamitwe, has escaped an assassination attempt in the capital Bujumbura which left one of his bodyguards dead, officials said Tuesday. “Thank God, Willy Nyamitwe narrowly escaped an attack…” tweeted Burundi’s …
Read More »Uganda nabs Ssimbwa in $120m fake UPDF arms deal
Kampala, Uganda | AFP | Uganda’s police said Tuesday they had nabbed a con man suspected of swindling a Polish weapons manufacturer into signing a bogus 120-million dollar arms deal. BMP Poland inked the multi-million dollar deal with the man, named as Sam Ssimbwa, who had presented himself to the …
Read More »China official’s election as Interpol chief sparks concern
Nusa Dua, Indonesia | AFP | A Chinese security official was elected president of Interpol Thursday for the first time, sparking criticism from activists who say Beijing uses the agency to track down dissidents abroad. Vice Minister of Public Security Meng Hongwei was chosen as the new head of the …
Read More »Huge cyber attack disrupts internet in Liberia
Monrovia, Liberia | AFP | A massive cyber attack targeting Liberia’s single broadband link has taken the country’s internet intermittently offline for the last week, web security experts said Friday. The characteristics of the attack point to the same type of cyber weapon that crippled several major websites based in …
Read More »SA Zuma probe says ‘it appears crimes have been committed’
Pretoria, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s anti-corruption watchdog Wednesday called for prosecutors to investigate alleged criminal activity as it released a report into President Jacob Zuma that fuelled further calls for him to resign. Zuma, whose presidency has been engulfed by multiple scandals, had fought to block the …
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