Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  Olympic champions Vivian Cheruiyot and Eliud Kipchoge were named Kenya’s top athletes at an awards ceremony that rounded off a controversial but successful year for sports in the country. Cheruiyot, 33, a former world double 5,000m and 10,000m champion, warded off the challenge of Jemima …

Paris, France | AFP |  Paris officials have announced a crackdown on rats which blight parks and gardens around the City of Light and are thought to easily outnumber humans. The city’s rodents were given an image overhaul in 2007 in the hit animated film “Ratatouille” which depicted them cooking …

London, United Kingdom | AFP |  Arsenal lynchpins Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil will not be allowed to leave the club before their contracts expire in 18 months’ time, manager Arsene Wenger said on Thursday. British media reports this week suggested Chilean forward Sanchez and German playmaker Ozil want new …

Beijing, China | AFP |  A Chinese company has scrapped plans to purchase German semiconductor equipment maker Aixtron after US President Obama blocked the deal, the company said Thursday. The Chinese government-backed Grand Chip Investment said its offer could no longer be fulfilled after Washington rejected the inclusion of Aixtron’s …

  Geneva, Switzerland | AFP |  The aviation industry is set to post record net earnings this year and is expected to remain profitable in 2017, despite rising oil prices and global political turbulence, its trade association said Thursday. “Airlines continue to deliver strong results. This year we expect a …

London, United Kingdom | AFP |  Britain faces an “unprecedented” terror threat that will not subside until the Syrian civil war ends, the head of foreign intelligence service MI6 said Thursday. In a rare speech for an intelligence chief, Alex Younger said British authorities had foiled 12 terrorist plots since …

Banjul, Gambia | AFP | Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh has ruthlessly pursued opponents real and imaginary, and implied more than once that he would kill anyone who defied him. His magnanimous concession speech and promise of a swift handover to president-elect Adama Barrow after 22 years in power has therefore …

Islamabad, Pakistan | AFP |  At least 21 bodies have so far been recovered from the site of a plane crash in northwest Pakistan Wednesday, the military said. “Rescue effort continues. 21 bodies recovered so far,” the military, which is part of rescue efforts, said in a statement. There was …

New Delhi, India | AFP | “To me, she was a goddess,” said party worker Shankar as he joined a sea of mourners bidding farewell to Jayalalithaa Jayaram, highlighting the messianic devotion of India’s poor for often controversial champions. Hundreds of thousands of people attended Tuesday’s funeral in Chennai for …

New York, United States | AFP |  Time magazine on Wednesday named Donald Trump its “Person of the Year” for 2016 for his stunning upset victory in the US election, saying he had redrawn America’s political rules. The Republican president-elect dialed into NBC television’s Today show, welcoming the accolade as …