Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | DR Congo’s electoral body trumpeted on Tuesday the arrival of the first voting machines from South Korea for long-delayed elections that the government has pledged to hold in December. The vote is supposed to bring about the belated departure of President Joseph Kabila, in power …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s graft-tainted president Jacob Zuma on Tuesday announced a probe into corruption at the highest levels of the state after parliament indicated it would this week deliberate procedures for impeachment. Corruption allegations have tarnished Zuma’s image as well as eroded his support base and …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Crystal Palace manager Roy Hodgson praised the video assistant referee (VAR) system after its debut in English competitive football following initial confusion around Brighton’s winning goal. Brighton’s Glenn Murray scored a late winner in the home side’s 2-1 FA Cup third-round defeat of Palace on …

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | Heavy snowfall has trapped some 13,000 tourists at Zermatt, one of Switzerland’s most popular ski stations, the Alpine resort said Tuesday. The snow has blocked all roads and the train leading to the resort in the southern Swiss canton of Valais, which was also hit by …

Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korea will send its athletes to the Winter Olympics in the South, the rivals said Tuesday after their first formal talks in more than two years following high tensions over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme. The two sides also decided to hold military talks to …

Beijing, China | AFP | Chinese President Xi Jinping and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron oversaw the signing Tuesday of business deals worth billions of dollars, seeking better trade ties even as France’s finance minister boasted of rejecting those investments he likened to “pillaging”. The two sides signed deals in the …

New York, United States | AFP | Could Oprah Winfrey run for president and beat Donald Trump? The United States was ablaze Monday with speculation that the billionaire talk show queen might be nurturing White House ambitions after an impassioned Golden Globes speech. Winfrey had barely heralded a “new day” following …

New York, United States | AFP | Two large shareholders urged Apple to study whether iPhones are proving addictive for children and that intensive use of the smartphones may be bad for their mental health. “There is a growing body of evidence that, for at least some of the most frequent …

Beijing, China | AFP | French President Emmanuel Macron toured Beijing’s sprawling Forbidden City on Tuesday before a day of business deals and talks with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping as the two rising global leaders seek closer ties. Macron, who has positioned himself as the leading voice of the European …

Las Vegas, United States | AFP | Consumer electronics titan LG on Monday proclaimed this year a “tipping point” for smart homes, pushing hard into artificial intelligence and building Google Assistant into a smart speaker. LG Electronics is developing technology designed to enable its appliances, televisions and other devices adapt to …