Buea, Cameroon | AFP | The main city in a restive English-speaking region of Cameroon was a virtual ghost town Saturday, with armed police patrolled the streets on the eve of an expected — but symbolic — declaration of independence from the French-speaking country by anglophone separatists. In Buea, the …
Read More »Casualties mount in Trump’s first eight months
Washington, United States | AFP | Traffic through the exit door of Donald Trump’s administration has been astonishingly high since he became president on January 20. On Friday, Secretary of Health and Human Services Thomas Price became the latest casualty of eight months of bedlam in the executive offices of the …
Read More »Trump’s scandal-hit health secretary resigns
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump’s embattled health secretary was forced out of the US administration Friday amid a scandal over his use of costly private jets for government travel. Tom Price was the latest top official to join in a stream of steady and embarrassing exits …
Read More »Government internet shutdowns cost Africa dear
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Government shutdowns of the internet have cost sub-Saharan Africa about $237 million since 2015, according to a study released Friday, as authorities increasingly implement planned disruptions. At least 12 countries have had internet shutdowns, often before elections or when protests erupt, with mobile internet …
Read More »Togo: protests, a dead cow and a political message
Kparatao, Togo | AFP | The cow belonging to the butcher in Kparatao, northern Togo, was tied to a tree and minding its own business when the soldiers pumped it full of bullets. Within days, the stricken animal became a symbol of the popular protests against President Faure Gnassingbe which have …
Read More »Twitter reveals Russia-backed ads ahead of US election
Washington, United States | AFP | Twitter on Thursday revealed that nearly 2,000 ads were placed on the messaging service in 2016 by a Russian media group suspected of trying to interfere with the US presidential election. A Twitter statement said the social media company shared data with congressional investigators about …
Read More »White House probing use of private email: report
Washington, United States | AFP | The White House has launched an internal probe of the use of private email for official business by senior aides to President Donald Trump, news outlet Politico reported Thursday. The administration is scouring the White House server for emails to and from private email accounts …
Read More »Hand over Gulen for jailed pastor, Erdogan tells US
Ankara, Turkey | AFP | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the United States Thursday that Turkey could release a jailed American pastor if Washington handed over exiled Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen who Ankara blames for last year’s failed coup. The US pastor, Andrew Brunson, has been held by Turkish authorities …
Read More »China’s Baidu, police crack down on ‘rumours’
Beijing, China | AFP | Chinese internet giant Baidu has teamed up with the country’s cyber police to control the spread of rumors and fake news, the company said Thursday, as authorities continue to tighten censorship ahead a major Communist Party congress next month. Baidu, known as China’s answer to …
Read More »Police seize millions of ballots ahead of Catalan vote
Barcelona, Spain | AFP | Police on Thursday seized more than six million ballots and envelopes and 100 ballot boxes in a Catalan town, in the latest bid to block a banned independence referendum, a police source said. The seizures are the latest in a long list of items confiscated by …
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