WORLD

    San Francisco, United States | AFP |  Ad blockers on Thursday said they foiled a move by Facebook to sidestep software used to stop marketing messages at social network pages visited on desktop computers. Adblock Plus announced that it is updating its free software with a new filter …

Singapore, Singapore | AFP |  Oil prices fell for a third day in Asia trade Thursday after figures showing high US crude stockpiles and increased Saudi production. Official US data on Wednesday showed a jump in crude inventories, taking by surprise investors who expected a drawdown in supply, pushing prices …

Rio de Janeiro, BRAZIL | AFP |  Michael Phelps bagged the 21st gold medal of his incredible Olympic career on Tuesday, anchoring the United States to victory in the 4x200m freestyle relay. Phelps, who barely 15 minutes earlier had produced a superb victory in the 200m butterfly, led the United …

Saint Petersburg, RUSSIAN FEDERATION | AFP | Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday pledged to reinvigorate ties after their first meeting since Ankara shot down a Russian warplane last November. Erdogan’s visit to Putin’s hometown of Saint Petersburg is also his first foreign trip …

Manchester, United Kingdom | AFP |  French superstar Paul Pogba on Tuesday completed a sensational return to Manchester United from Juventus for a reported world record fee. United said Pogba had signed a five-year contract but did not give the cost which British media have put at 89 million pounds …

Colombo, Sri Lanka | AFP |  Sri Lanka’s police sought spiritual help from Buddhist clergy Monday to bless an accident-prone highway in a country that has some of the world’s most dangerous roads. Police at Mawathagama, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) north-east of Colombo, directed three saffron-robed monks to bless …

N’Djamena, Chad | AFP | Chad’s President Idriss Deby, who began his fifth term in office Monday, is a warrior leader who seized power in a military coup in 1990 and is today set on crushing African jihadists. After 26 years as ruler of the vast African country, Deby took …

Tehran, Iran | AFP |  Iran has executed a nuclear scientist convicted of handing over “top secret” information to the United States, a judicial spokesman said on Sunday. “Shahram Amiri was hanged for revealing the country’s top secrets to the enemy (US),” Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejeie was quoted as saying by …

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | AFP | Thousands of Brazilians angry at political upheaval, corruption and the cost of the Rio Olympics blocked traffic in protests hours before the gala opening ceremony. Most people came to vent anger at center-right interim president Michel Temer who took power in May on …

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan on Thursday urged Londoners to remain “calm and vigilant” after a woman was killed and five people injured in a city centre knife attack. Police meanwhile probed possible terrorist links following the arrest of a 19-year-old man at the scene of the incident which took …