Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Tuesday pardoned a leading human rights activist who was facing trial on charges of spying for foreign embassies, state media reported. Mudawi Ibrahim Adam, an engineering professor at the University of Khartoum, was arrested by security forces in December as part …
Read More »Iran’s Rouhani dismisses military site inspections
Tehran, Iran | AFP | Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Tuesday dismissed the idea of inspections at its military sites, reportedly floated by the United States, saying they were not required under a nuclear deal with world powers. “Our commitments to the world are clear… our relations with the IAEA (International …
Read More »Melania Trump makes waves with ‘storm stilettos,’ FLOTUS hat
Washington, United States | AFP | First Lady Melania Trump is making waves … for her flood fashion. The former model is always elegantly turned out and perfectly coiffed, and Tuesday was no exception as she left the White House with her president husband for storm-ravaged Texas. Trump was photographed walking …
Read More »Sudan student convicted of killing policeman: lawyer
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | A court in Sudan convicted a university student on Tuesday of killing a policeman during protests in the capital last year, a defence lawyer told AFP. Asim Omer, who was studying at Khartoum University, was arrested in December and charged with killing the policeman after hundreds …
Read More »Zuma’s ex-wife lashes critics as S.Africa power race hots up
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | The former wife of South African President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday dismissed criticism that her bid to succeed him in office is a strategy to protect him from criminal prosecution. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the former chief of the African Union, is a leading candidate to replace …
Read More »Intelligence reveals North Korea’s Kim has had third child
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has fathered another child, reports said Tuesday, after his wife dropped out of the public eye for several months. First lady Ri Sol-Ju delivered the couple’s third child in February, the Yonhap news agency reported Tuesday, citing South Korean …
Read More »France gets First Dog: Macron adopts labrador mix Nemo
Paris, France | AFP | In keeping with time-honoured French presidential tradition, Emmanuel Macron has given the country a First Dog. The 39-year-old president and his wife Brigitte adopted a black labrador-griffon mix at the weekend, whom they have named Nemo after the captain in Jules Verne’s science fiction classic, Twenty …
Read More »Nigeria seizes $21 million from ex-oil minister
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | A Nigerian court seized $21 million on Monday from bank accounts linked to a former oil minister accused of corruption as investigators continue to claw back her fortune. Federal high court judge Abdulazeez Anka ordered the immediate forfeiture of 7.6 billion naira ($21 million, 17.9 …
Read More »Kenya’s Supreme Court begins hearing election challenge
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Judges at Kenya’s Supreme Court on Monday began hearing an opposition petition challenging the result of the August 8 presidential election. The seven judges have until September 1 to rule in the case in which opposition leader Raila Odinga alleges computer hacking and fraud handed …
Read More »Merkel ‘out of touch’, says challenger as vote nears
Berlin, Germany | AFP | German Chancellor Angela Merkel is “aloof” and “out of touch”, her main challenger Martin Schulz said Sunday, stepping up his attacks as he seeks to turn around a flagging campaign ahead of next month’s general election. The Social Democratic Party (SPD) leader said Merkel …
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