Juba, South Sudan | AFP | The South Sudan government has agreed to accept the deployment of a UN-mandated regional force in Juba after months of hesitation, a spokesman said. “I would like therefore to inform the people on behalf of the transitional government of national unity that your cabinet …

Berlin, Germany | AFP | The wanted son of ousted international athletics president Lamine Diack took millions of euros from Russian competitors in return for “total protection” from failed doping tests, a new investigation said Friday. Germany’s ARD television and France’s Le Monde newspaper said six athletes each paid between 300,000 …

Stockholm, Sweden | AFP | Sweden on Friday said 200,000 chickens were being slaughtered at a farm where bird flu has been detected, following a resurgence in the virus across Europe. Traces of the H5N8 virus were found at the Aniagra farm in Morarp, southwest Sweden, on Thursday. The discovery …

Washington, United States | AFP | Donald Trump’s White House triumph this month caught the business world by surprise but also breathed life into a little-understood US industry: private prisons and migrant detention centers. Following the Republican’s election, shares in two of the sector’s major players, CoreCivic (formerly known as …

Moscow, Russia | AFP |  Russia has detained a general who heads a branch of Russia’s federal guard service after he allegedly took a large bribe, Interfax news agency reported Friday. The Federal Guard Service (FSO) is Moscow’s version of the US Secret Service and is responsible for ensuring the …

Moscow, Russia | AFP |  President Vladimir Putin on Friday personally handed a new Russian passport to US action star Steven Seagal and said he hoped the gesture showed a “normalisation” of strained relations with Washington. Sitting at a round table in the Kremlin at a televised meeting, Putin showed …

Istanbul, Turkey | AFP |  President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened Friday to open Turkey’s borders to allow migrants to reach the EU, in a move that would tear up a landmark deal that has reduced the flow. Erdogan’s comments, some of his toughest in recent times against the European Union, …

New York, United States | AFP |  Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka, accused of a potential conflict of interest as she helms her own brand while making frequent appearances with her president-elect father, is separating her business and personal social media accounts. In a “letter” that appeared Tuesday on her Twitter …

Bangkok, Thailand | AFP |  He’s a mercurial army general known for penning saccharine ballads and angry tirades against his critics. Now Thailand’s junta chief has launched a new eye-catching project: trimming the waistlines of the kingdom’s civil servants. Former army chief turned Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha ditched his fatigues …

Moscow, Russia | AFP |  President Vladimir Putin on Thursday joked with a schoolboy that Russia’s borders “don’t end anywhere”. Putin was speaking at a televised awards ceremony held by the Russian Geographical Society. On stage Putin questioned Miroslav Oskirko, a nine-year-old prodigy who said he knew the borders of …