NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — A Kenyan court has sentenced a 24-year-old beauty queen to death for murdering her boyfriend by stabbing him 25 times, drawing criticism from rights groups who called the punishment “inhumane”. Ruth Kamande, who won a prison beauty pageant while awaiting trial, slashed her partner Farid Mohammed, 24, to death in 2015 and was convicted in May. “I want young people to know that it is not cool to kill your boyfriend […]
Tag: Social
Yemeni asylum-seekers spark backlash in South Korea
JEJU, South Korea (AFP) – A few hundred asylum-seekers from Yemen have sparked an unprecedented wave of xenophobia in ethnically homogenous South Korea, echoing the anti-immigrant sentiment that has swept Europe and helped propel Donald Trump to the White House. More than a million migrants arrived in Germany after its borders were opened in 2015 to asylum-seekers — many fleeing war — which deeply divided the country and its neighbours. And the United States, by […]
Argentine fans weep as World Cup dream fades
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AFP) — The party at the Buenos Aires fanzone fell flat as a crowd expecting a Messi-inspired Argentina World Cup revival could only watch in horror at as the nadir of Nizhny Novgorod unfolded. “We lost very badly, they really humiliated us this time,” said 22-year-old Joaquin. “And now, on top of that, we’re depending on Nigeria!” After the abject 3-0 loss to Croatia, the team will have to beat Nigeria in their […]
Turks mobilize to ensure fair play in tight poll
by Gokan Gunes © Agence France-Presse ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — One hundred people listen to presentations crammed into a room in Istanbul, defying the oppressive summer heat and attentively taking notes. Their aim — to ensure Sunday’s elections in Turkey are not marred by election fraud. Opposition parties, associations and members of the public have united in an unprecedented way to organise monitoring of the polling stations to check for any irregularities. With President Recep Tayyip […]
North Korea commemorates birth of its founder
by Sebastien Berger © Agence France-Presse NORTH KOREA (AFP) — Thousands of North Korean devotees laid flowers before statues of the country’s founder Kim Il Sung Sunday on the anniversary of his birth. A constant stream of soldiers in brown uniforms, work unit personnel in suits, schoolchildren and families made their way to Mansu hill in the center of Pyongyang, where giant statues of Kim and his son and successor look out over […]
Abuse or unemployment: stark choice for many Philippine domestics
by Mynardo Macaraig Agence France Presse MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — After the murder of a Philippine maid in Kuwait, domestic helpers are streaming back to Manila with tales of abusive employers — but many are still prepared to take their chances overseas again. For them, the sometimes brutal conditions and the hide-and-seek with Kuwaiti police are outweighed by the need to provide for their families at home. “The mother of my boss, she would […]
Call for justice as Joanna Demafelis’ body returns home from Kuwait
ILOILO, Philippines (AFP) — More than a hundred relatives and supporters of a Filipina maid whose body was found stuffed in a freezer in Kuwait brandished banners demanding justice as her coffin was returned home on Saturday. The family of Joanna Demafelis openly wept as the white casket was unloaded at an airport cargo terminal in the central city of Iloilo. “Justice for Joanna D. Demafelis,” was emblazoned on banners and on T-shirts worn by the crowd […]
Holocaust survivor opens art museum in hometown Vilnius
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AFP) — Painter and Holocaust survivor Samuel Bak on Monday opened a museum of his allegorical work inspired by Jewish history in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, more than half a century after he held his first exhibition as a nine-year-old inside its wartime ghetto. As a boy he was sent to live in the ghetto after the German Nazis occupied the city in 1941 during World War II. He survived — unlike most of his […]
To rebuild trust, US cops offer coffee and a friendly ear
by Nova SAFO Agence France-Presse CHICAGO, United States (AFP) — In a diverse Chicago neighborhood where dozens of languages are spoken, two police officers are visiting a McDonald’s restaurant. They have a jug of coffee in hand and are offering a friendly ear, willing to listen to anyone who wants to have a chat. Welcome to “Coffee with a Cop” day, an initiative held Wednesday in Chicago and across the United States for police to […]
Signs of burnout and how to prevent it
Burnout Feeling physically and emotionally exhausted? Feel like work is invading all aspects of your life? Like a growing number of professionals, you could be in the brink of a burnout. (AFP videographics) https://youtu.be/VtBo0od5B4k
Facebook looking at behavior to weed out fake accounts
SAN FRANCISCO, United States (AFP) — Facebook on Wednesday said it has started weeding out bogus accounts by watching for suspicious behavior such as repetitive posts or torrents of messages. The security improvement was described as being part of a broader effort to rid the leading social network of hoaxes, misinformation, and fake news by making sure people are who they claim to be. “We’ve found that when people represent themselves on Facebook the same […]
Facebook launches intra-office ‘Workplace’ network
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Social network giant Facebook on Monday launched new global product Workplace, a platform that it hopes will replace intranet, mailbox and other internal communication tools used by businesses worldwide. The platform allows employees to collaborate in real-time and is intended to compete with similar office communication products including Microsoft’s Yammer, Salesforce’s Chatter and Slack. The Silicon Valley company developed the concept, hitherto called “Facebook at Work”, two years ago in […]
