Wajir, Kenya | AFP | Swaddled in colourful hijabs the women exchange puzzled looks and suppress embarrassed giggles. “You’re sure it’s halal?” asks one, peering at a collection of birth control pills, condoms and IUDs. Such everyday forms of contraception are little known and rarely seen in Kenya’s arid and …
Read More »West Nile virus can kill years after infection
Miami, United States | AFP | West Nile virus may be three times more deadly than previously thought, because many deaths associated with the mosquito-borne virus occur years after the initial infection, researchers said Monday. The findings were based on a study of 4,144 people in Texas, and were presented …
Read More »ICC: US may have committed war crimes in Afghanistan
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | US military forces and the CIA may have committed war crimes in Afghanistan through the “cruel and violent” interrogation of detainees mostly between 2003-2004, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said Monday. There was a “reasonable basis to believe that, in the …
Read More »IS commander wanted by Italy arrested in Sudan
Rome, Italy | AFP | A veteran commander of the Islamic State group who was convicted in Italy of terrorist recruitment has been arrested in Sudan, an Italian lawmaker said Monday. Giacomo Stucchi, a senator who chairs the parliamentary committee that oversees Italy’s secret services, said Italian intelligence had played …
Read More »Putin, Trump in phone call normalising US-Russia ties
Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russian President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump spoke on the phone on Monday evening and agreed on the need to normalise ties between Washington and Moscow, the Kremlin said. The Kremlin also said that the two politicians agreed to “make provisions for a personal meeting.” …
Read More »Skygazers gear up for extra bright ‘supermoon’ tonight
Jakarta, Indonesia | AFP | Skygazers were heading to high-rise buildings, ancient forts and beaches Monday to witness the closest “supermoon” to Earth in almost seven decades, hoping for dramatic photos and spectacular surf. The unusually big and bright Moon will appear at its most impressive just as night falls …
Read More »President-elect Trump back to tweeting with abandon
Washington, United States | AFP | Donald Trump during the presidential campaign tweeted with fierce abandon and at all hours. Would he feel restrained by last week’s presidential election victory to give his thumbs a rest? It seems not. The newly minted Republican president-elect let loose his latest Twitter barrage …
Read More »F1: I’m hunting you down, victorious Hamilton warns Rosberg
Sao Paulo, Brazil | AFP | Lewis Hamilton warned Nico Rosberg he was “hunting” a fourth world title after describing his stunning triumph in Sunday’s wet and chaotic Brazilian Grand Prix as one of the easiest of his 52 career victories. The 31-year-old Briton won in Brazil for the first …
Read More »Giuliani: US law doesn’t bar Trump from business empire
Washington, United States | AFP | US law does not forbid Donald Trump from managing his corporate empire from the White House, according to one of his top advisors, who counseled nevertheless that the billionaire’s businesses be run by his adult children. Rudy Giuliani, a former mayor of New York …
Read More »Trump credits social media with election win
Washington, United States | AFP | President-elect Donald Trump credited his provocative use of Twitter and other social media with helping him win the US elections, saying it gave him a way of “fighting back.” In an interview that airs in full on Sunday on CBS’s “60 Minutes,” Trump said …
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