Sevastopol, Undefined | AFP | Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday thanked residents of Crimea for voting to annex the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, calling the move “real democracy” in a speech days ahead of Sunday’s presidential election. “With your decision you restored historical justice,” he told the crowd of …

Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP | Two upstart Sierra Leone political parties said Wednesday they had filed complaints over this month’s elections after failing to make the cut for the second round of the presidential ballot. The National Grand Coalition (NGC) took 6.9 percent of votes in the March 7 elections …

Tripoli, Libya | AFP | Libya has issued arrest warrants for more than 200 Libyans and foreigners suspected of involvement in a smuggling network for Europe-bound migrants, the attorney general’s office said on Thursday. “We have 205 arrest warrants for people (involved in) organising immigration operations, human trafficking, (cases) of torture, …

Port Louis, Mauritius | AFP | Mauritian President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim has refused to resign, vowing to fight allegations that saw her embroiled in a financial scandal, the presidency said in a statement Wednesday. Gurib-Fakim, Africa’s only female head of state, has been accused of using a bank card provided by an …

Moscow, RUSSIAN FEDERATION | AFP | Moscow on Tuesday shrugged off London’s decision not to send British ministers and royals to Russia’s World Cup over a nerve agent attack on a former double agent. The measure was one of a number announced by British Prime Minister Theresa May in response to …

Barcelona, Spain | AFP | Barcelona hailed Lionel Messi as ‘The King’ and he handed Chelsea the royal punishment by scoring twice to reach 100 Champions League goals and end their quarter-final hopes. After unfurling a banner showing the words ‘God Save The King’ before kick-off, Barca’s fans were celebrating …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday expelled 23 diplomats and suspended high-level contacts with Russia including for the World Cup, saying her government found Moscow “culpable” of the nerve agent poisoning of a former spy. May said she would be pushing for a “robust …

Manila, Philippines | AFP | President Rodrigo Duterte said Wednesday he was pulling the Philippines out of the treaty underpinning the International Criminal Court, which is examining his deadly drug war. “I therefore declare and forthwith give notice… that the Philippines is withdrawing its ratification of the Rome Statute effective …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Renowned British physicist Stephen Hawking, whose mental genius and physical disability made him a household name and inspiration across the globe, has died at age 76, his family said Wednesday. Propelled to superstardom by his 1988 book “A Brief History of Time”, which became …

Berlin, GERMANY | AFP | German Chancellor Angela Merkel, bruised by half a year of post-election coalition haggling, was Wednesday elected by parliament to her fourth and likely final term at the helm of Europe’s biggest economy. Lawmakers in Berlin’s glass-domed Reichstag voted 364-315 with nine abstentions for Merkel who …