Rome, Italy | AFP | A sudden rise in hunger across the globe will require a new emphasis on developing rural economies, the United Nations said on Monday. After steadily declining for a decade, 2016 saw an increase in hunger, with 815 million people, or 11 percent of the world’s population, …
Read More »‘All winners’ at inaugural Miss Wheelchair World pageant
Warsaw, Poland | AFP | In her elegant evening dress and perfectly styled hair and make-up, Maria Diaz looks like any beauty pageant contestant — except for the wheelchair she has been confined to since being shot by a stranger ten years ago. Maria is one of 24 young women …
Read More »COMMENT: Danger of divisions in Uganda
Why Ugandans need to build social cohesion in order to craft a national identity and build a nation COMMENT | Reagan Wamajji | Recently, I had the pleasure of interacting with individuals on a rather interesting topic; Social cohesion; crafting a national identity and nation building. I had never taken …
Read More »Cubans pay tribute to ‘Che’ on 50th anniversary of his death
Santa Clara, Cuba | AFP | Tens of thousands of Cubans turned out on Sunday to pay tribute to Ernesto “Che” Guevara, the Argentine-born Marxist revolutionary and guerrilla leader, on the 50th anniversary of his death. An estimated 70,000 people thronged the streets outside a mausoleum in this town 300 …
Read More »Danish police find decapitated head of Swedish journalist
Copenhagen, Denmark | AFP | Danish police said Saturday that divers had recovered the decapitated head and the legs of Swedish journalist Kim Wall, who vanished in August while interviewing a Danish inventor aboard his homemade submarine. In a grisly case worthy of a Nordic noir thriller, Copenhagen police inspector Jens …
Read More »Authorities thwarted planned 2016 attacks on New York
New York, United States | AFP | An undercover FBI agent helped thwart a jihadist plot to attack targets including New York’s subway and Times Square, authorities announced in unsealing the charges Friday. Three people have been charged with involvement in the planned attacks, which were to be carried out in …
Read More »Mexico’s ex-first lady launches independent presidential run
Mexico City, Mexico | AFP | Mexico’s former first lady Margarita Zavala announced Friday she will stand as an independent in presidential elections next year, ditching the country’s main opposition party and shaking up the race. Zavala, 50, is the wife of former president Felipe Calderon (2006-2012) and a popular conservative …
Read More »Police say London crash not related to terrorism
London, United Kingdom | AFP | London police said an incident in which a car apparently ploughed into pedestrians near the Natural History Museum on Saturday, injuring 11 people, was a not related to terrorism. “The incident in #ExhibitionRoad #SouthKensington earlier is not being treated as a terror-related incident. It …
Read More »Eleven hurt after car crashes near London museum
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Eleven people were injured on Saturday when a car mounted the pavement and ploughed into pedestrians near London’s Natural History Museum, leading to the driver’s arrest, although officials ruled out a terrorist link. Police said it was a traffic incident after three attacks in the …
Read More »Anti-nuclear campaign ICAN wins Nobel Peace Prize
Oslo, Norway | AFP | Nuclear disarmament campaign group ICAN won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for its efforts to consign the atomic bomb to history, firing off a warning that Donald Trump’s presidency showed the true extent of the risk posed by weapons of mass destruction. More than 70 …
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