Nineteen dead in Madagascar plague outbreak

Nineteen people have died of plague in Madagascar over the past two months, AFP reports quoting the Health Ministry. A total of 104 suspected cases have been registered. The disease, which is endemic in Madagascar, is...

China to shut down North Korean companies

China has told North Korean companies operating in its territory to close down as it implements United Nations sanctions against the reclusive state. The companies will be shut by early January. Joint Chinese and North...

Hugh Hefner: Playboy magazine founder dies aged 91

Hugh Hefner, American founder of the international adult magazine Playboy, has died at the age of 91. Playboy Enterprises Inc said he passed away peacefully at home in Los Angeles, from natural causes. Hefner began publishing...

Saudi Arabia women hail end of driving ban

Campaigners in Saudi Arabia have hailed King Salman's decree allowing women to drive for the first time. One female activist called it a "great victory", while another said things would "never be the same again". The...

Italy woman marries herself

An Italian woman has married herself in a ceremony complete with white dress, three-layer wedding cake, bridesmaids and 70 guests. "I firmly believe that each of us must first of all love ourselves," said Laura...

Trump candidate Luther Strange loses Alabama primary

US President Donald Trump's pick for Alabama's Senate race has lost the state's Republican primary to a firebrand Christian conservative. Incumbent Luther Strange, 64, said he had called rival Roy Moore to concede the race. "We...

Saudi Arabia driving ban on women to be lifted

Saudi Arabia's King Salman has issued a decree allowing women to drive for the first time, to the joy of activists. The Gulf kingdom is the only country in the world that bans women from...

Togolese refugees enter Ghana as political crisis spread

Refugees fleeing political unrest in Togo are pouring into Ghana as security crackdown on opposition protesters seeking an end to President Faure Gnassingbe’s rule steadily spread to northern part of the tiny West African...

Uganda MPs brawl during presidential age-limit debate

Chaotic scenes broke out in Uganda's parliament as MPs debated the contentious removal of the presidential age limit. Tempers flared and lawmakers were filmed brawling after it was alleged an MP had brought a gun...

Palestinian gunman kills three Israelis in West Bank

Three Israelis have been shot dead by a Palestinian at the entrance to the Jewish settlement of Har Adara in the occupied West Bank, Israeli police say. The gunman, a 37-year-old from a nearby village,...