Brasília, Brazil | AFP | Brazil’s prison population more than doubled between 2005 and 2016 and cells are now so crowded that there are almost two people for every space, the justice ministry said Friday. With 726,712 detainees in June 2016, Latin America’s biggest country now has the third highest prison …
Read More »Security Council authorizes UN support for G5 Sahel troops
United Nations, United States | AFP | The Security Council on Friday unanimously adopted a resolution authorizing UN peacekeepers in Mali to provide logistical and operational support to the new G5 Sahel anti-jihadist force there. The resolution, drafted by France, was the subject of tough negotiations with the United States, which …
Read More »Norway populist fails in Nobel bid
Oslo, Norway | AFP | A controversial former leader of Norway’s anti-immigration party on Friday failed in his bid to join the committee that awards the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize. According to Alfred Nobel’s will, the five members of the committee are elected by the Norwegian Parliament, which takes into account …
Read More »US warns Russia over Ukraine as OSCE meets
Vienna, Austria | AFP | The United States warned Russia on Thursday that its ties with the West can never recover until it pulls its forces out of Ukraine, as OSCE foreign ministers met in Vienna. Diplomats had hoped that meetings on the sidelines of the 57-nation body would make progress …
Read More »Gay marriage around the world
Paris, France | AFP | Gay marriage, legalised on Thursday in Australia in a parliamentary vote, is now recognised in more than 25 countries, of which 16 are in Europe. Here is a breakdown. – European pioneers – In April 2001 the Netherlands became the first country in the world …
Read More »Argentina judge orders arrest of ex-president Cristina Kirchner: source
Buenos Aires, Argentina | AFP | An Argentine judge on Thursday ordered the arrest of former president Cristina Kirchner for allegedly covering up Iranian involvement in a 1994 bombing at a Buenos Aires Jewish center that left 85 people dead, according to a judicial source. The order also removes the …
Read More »Rohingya refugee crisis a ‘grave security risk’ ICG warns
Yangon, Myanmar | AFP | Prolonged displacement of Rohingya refugees in squalid Bangladeshi camps poses a “grave security risk”, conflict analysts ICG warned Thursday, raising the spectre of militants recruiting among the displaced and launching cross-border attacks on Myanmar. Raids by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) on August 25 …
Read More »UN pledge to tackle lead poisoning too late for some victims
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Irene Akinyi Odinga has lead poisoning. With no money for treatment, the young mother of two stares death in the face. “I feel very bad,” the 25-year-old tells AFP on the sidelines of a UN pollution conference, shivering in a thick jacket in the warm Kenyan …
Read More »Trump Jerusalem move puts region in ‘ring of fire’: Erdogan
Ankara, Turkey | AFP | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday lashed out at his US counterpart Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, saying it would put the region in a “ring of fire”. “Taking this type of step puts the world, especially the region, …
Read More »Putin to seek new term as Russia president
Moscow, Russia | AFP | President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said he would seek a new six-year term in March elections, a move that would make him the longest-serving Russian leader since Joseph Stalin. Putin, who has run Russia both as president and prime minister for the past 18 years, …
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