New York, United States | AFP | Rapper Meek Mill won freedom from prison Tuesday after an unusually harsh sentence triggered protests that pointed to racial biases in US probation laws. The 30-year-old Philadelphia rapper, who was jailed in November over a case from his teenage years, was ordered out …
Read More »Facebook unveils appeal process for when it removes posts
San Francisco, United States | AFP | Facebook said Tuesday it will give users the right to appeal decisions if the social network decides to remove photos, videos or written posts deemed to violate community standards. Plans to roll out an appeals process globally in coming months came as Facebook provided …
Read More »French tycoon Bollore held for questioning over Africa ports deals
Paris, France | AFP | Billionaire French tycoon Vincent Bollore was detained Tuesday as part of a corruption investigation involving his group’s acquisition of contracts to operate ports in West Africa, legal sources told AFP. The 66-year-old head of the Bollore Group, was taken into custody in the Paris suburb …
Read More »Is it really 2018?
The evidence suggests otherwise Kampala, Uganda | CHARLES C. ROZIER | According to scholars throughout history, we actually aren’t living in the year that is printed on our calendars. The more the origins and development of dating systems have been and are studied, the more it becomes apparent that time …
Read More »UN chief strongly condemns air strikes on Yemen wedding
United Nations, United States | AFP | UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday strongly condemned airstrikes on a wedding in Yemen that killed dozens of people, including children, and called for an investigation. Yemen’s Huthi rebels have blamed the Saudi-led coalition for the attack on the wedding in northern Hajjah …
Read More »Netanyahu turns up volume as Iran deadline nears
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a fresh call Monday for an overhaul of the Iran nuclear deal as US President Donald Trump’s deadline for further Iranian concessions edged closer. Trump has threatened to tear up the 2015 agreement that lifted sanctions on Iran in …
Read More »World’s first penis, scrotum transplant done in US
Washington, United States | AFP | Doctors at Johns Hopkins University said Monday they have performed the world’s first total penis and scrotum transplant on a US military serviceman who was wounded in Afghanistan. The 14-hour operation took place on March 26, and was performed by a team of nine …
Read More »Erdogan blasts opposition for bolstering new party
Ankara, Turkey | AFP | President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday hit out at plans by the main opposition party to bolster Turkey’s newest party and enable it to take part in snap presidential and parliamentary elections in June. There had been concerns that the Iyi (“Good”) Party, which until now …
Read More »Nepalese peacekeepers accused of child rape in South Sudan
United Nations, United States | AFP | UN peacekeepers from Nepal are facing allegations of child rape in South Sudan, the UN spokesman said Monday, describing the case as “especially heinous.” At the request of the United Nations, Nepal agreed to send a team of investigators to work with the UN …
Read More »Obama to deliver Mandela lecture in S.Africa in July
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Former US president Barack Obama will deliver the annual Nelson Mandela memorial lecture at a 4,000-capacity arena in Johannesburg in July, South African organisers announced on Monday. Obama, who met with Mandela in 2005 and who made an emotional address at his funeral, will speak …
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