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by Chris Stein Agence France-Presse LEGETAFO, Ethiopia (AFP) – He may be Ethiopia’s biggest pop star but Teddy Afro hasn’t held a concert in his country for years, some of his songs have been effectively banned, and the launch party for his last album was broken up by the police. But sitting in the living room of his spacious house outside the capital, Addis Ababa, the 41-year-old musician is relaxed and says he is focused on […]
by Patrick Rahir Agence France-Presse MADRID, Spain (AFP) — Despite taking fire for losing a snap election in Catalonia, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy faces the new year better equipped to block a separatist drive in the wealthy region, analysts said. His detractors have called the results of the December 21 election, which saw separatist parties hold on to their majority in the Catalan parliament, a “fiasco” and a “rout” for Rajoy, in power since 2011. Pro-independence parties failed […]
INDORE, India (AFP) — He is inspired by Bollywood and has a Freddie Mercury-style moustache — but it is the Michael Jackson dance moves of traffic cop Ranjeet Singh that grab attention on India’s chaotic streets. Heads turn and drivers cannot fail to notice when the 38-year-old moonwalks across busy intersections, avoiding rickshaws and trucks in the centre of Indore, a city of two million people. “I have been a Michael Jackson fan for years […]
by Nova Safo Agence France-Presse CHICAGO, United States — After years away, Anthony Davis returned home to Chicago last year to take care of his elderly father. The predominantly African-American neighborhood on the city’s south side where the 51-year-old Davis grew up was unrecognizable. Abandoned homes dot the landscape and the once vibrant community had fallen prey to the gun violence plaguing America’s third-largest city. “Growing up, there was really hardly any shootings,” Davis, who […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) – The official winner of this year’s dramatic Sydney to Hobart yacht race could be determined as early as Thursday, as an international jury assesses the fate of Supermaxi Wild Oats XI after her record finish. Wild Oats surpassed last year’s record time by several hours when she crossed the finish line late Wednesday, but her ninth line honors victory remains in the balance after second-placed LDV Comanche lodged a protest. The battle between […]
by Edgar Calderon Agence France-Presse GUATEMALA CITY, Guatemala — The United States did not pressure Guatemala into announcing it will move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, the Central American state’s foreign minister said Wednesday. “There wasn’t any pressure. There wasn’t any overture from the United States to make this happen. This was a decision by the government, the state and the foreign policy of Guatemala,” the minister, Sandra Jovel, told a news conference in Guatemala City. […]
by Marina Koreneva Agence France-Presse SAINT PETERSBURG, Russia — A homemade bomb blast at a supermarket in the Russian city of Saint Petersburg injured 10 people Wednesday, officials said, sparking a probe into attempted murder. “According to preliminary information, an explosion of an unidentified object occurred in a store,” a spokeswoman for Russia’s Investigative Committee, Svetlana Petrenko, said in a statement. The blast was caused by a “homemade explosive device with the power equivalent to 200 grammes of TNT […]
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AFP) — The Honduras opposition said Wednesday they filed an appeal with election officials demanding that President Juan Orlando Hernandez’s re-election be annulled because the recent vote was marred by fraud. Election officials declared Hernandez the victor after narrowly defeating leftist opposition candidate Salvador Nasralla in the controversial November 26 vote. Nasralla conceded on December 22 shortly after Honduras’ key ally Washington endorsed Hernandez’s re-election, following a month of deadly street clashes. Former president Manuel […]
by Francisco Jara Agence France-PresseLIMA, Peru – Families of victims of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori prepared Wednesday to intensify protests against a pardon given to the ex-leader, who was serving 25 years for murder and other human rights abuses. They planned a fresh march on Thursday denouncing both the pardon and current President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, who decreed Fujimori’s release on Sunday, three days after narrowly surviving impeachment on graft allegations thanks to Fujimori’s son Kenji. “This […]
DOUMA, Syria (AFP) – Aid workers have begun evacuating emergency medical cases from Syria’s besieged rebel bastion of Eastern Ghouta, the Red Cross said on Wednesday, after months of waiting during which the United Nations said at least 16 people died. Families waited in the darkness in the rebel-held town of Douma for their loved ones to board ambulances bound for hospitals in the capital Damascus. Under a deal with the government, five workmen detained by the […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia has lost contact with Angosat-1, the first national telecoms satellite for Angola launched from its Baikonur space pad, a source in the space industry told AFP on Wednesday. “Contact has temporarily been lost,” the source told AFP by telephone, adding specialists were now looking into the matter. © Agence France-Presse
BEIJING, China (AFP) — The United States and Germany urged China to free an outspoken government critic known as “Super Vulgar Butcher” on Wednesday after he was sentenced to eight years in prison. Wu Gan, who refused to plead guilty to charges of “subverting state power,” was on Tuesday handed one of the harshest punishments meted out to a group of lawyers and activists swept up in a major crackdown two years ago. “The embassies […]
