WORLD

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A female candidate for a local position in Taipei, Taiwan, recently became the butt of social media jokes, after people noticed that she looked nothing like the woman on her campaign posters. The difference between real-life Wang Zhiya and her depiction on campaign posters …

Baghdad, Iraq | AFP | The Iraqi journalist who grabbed headlines around the world by hurling his shoes at then US president George W. Bush is pitching for a seat in parliament at upcoming elections. “My ambition is to throw all the thieving politicians in prison, make them regret what …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | KIM JONG-UN reportedly travelled with his own personal toilet to his meeting with his South Korean counterpart, based on an intense paranoia. The North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reportedly brought his own personal toilet to the historic April 27 meeting with his South Korean …

Paris, France | AFP | Depicting the object of their ire as Napoleon, Dracula, Jupiter, a banker-king and Margaret Thatcher, tens of thousands marched through central Paris on Saturday to protest against President Emmanuel Macron’s sweeping reforms, a year after he took office. Some 2,000 security forces including riot police …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Ryusei Imai, or “Little Bruce Lee”, as he’s come to be known, started watching Bruce Lee movie since he was one. Then he started imitating scenes from Bruce Lee movies at age four. In one year’s time he had already mastered the nunchaku scene …

Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow next week, the premier’s office said, ahead of a possible US withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. The Wednesday meeting will discuss “regional developments”, Netanyahu’s office said, and follows the Israeli leader’s …

Paris, France | AFP | France on Saturday condemned remarks by US President Donald Trump about the 2015 attacks in Paris and called on him to show respect for the victims of the bloodshed that saw jihadists attack the Bataclan concert hall and other targets. “France expresses its firm disapproval …

Vandenberg Air Force Base, United States | AFP | NASA on Saturday blasted off its latest Mars lander, InSight, designed to perch on the surface and listen for “Marsquakes” ahead of eventual human missions to explore the Red Planet. “Three, two, one, liftoff!” said a NASA commentator as the spacecraft …

Yangon, Myanmar | AFP | Rohingya refugees who return to Myanmar will be safe as long as they stay in the model villages built for them, the country’s army chief has said, renewing fears they will be kept in settlements indefinitely. Some 700,000 Rohingya Muslims fled Buddhist-majority Myanmar to Bangladesh …

United Nations, United States | AFP | The United States failed Friday to win United Nations Security Council backing for a statement rejecting as “unacceptable” remarks by Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas about Jews that included “vile anti-Semitic slurs.” Kuwait, a non-permanent council member that represents the Arab Group of countries, …