Israel ramps up airstrikes in Syria, kills Hezbollah commander in heaviest raid on Iran proxies

Israel ramps up airstrikes in Syria, kills Hezbollah commander in heaviest raid on Iran proxies

Tehran and its proxies have entrenched themselves across Syria, including around Aleppo and the capital Damascus. The Israeli military said on Friday it had killed Ali Abed Akhsan Naim, deputy commander of Hezbollah’s rocket and missiles unit, in an airstrike in the area of Bazouriye in Lebanon.

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Pugilistic VP Kamala Harris pushes the envelope as Biden struggles to restore Democrats’ confidence

Pugilistic VP Kamala Harris pushes the envelope as Biden struggles to restore Democrats’ confidence

Harris, whose approval ratings in recent public opinion polls also hover under 40 per cent, is also the US’s most popular Democratic politician after Biden. But some White House aides have privately questioned her effectiveness as an administration spokesperson and her ability to win were she at the top of the ticket.

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Ugandan president’s son vows crackdown on graft in army but questions raised about complicity of his family

Ugandan president’s son vows crackdown on graft in army but questions raised about complicity of his family

Uganda’s opposition has accused Museveni of fast-tracking his son’s military career to prepare him to take political power. Museveni has denied grooming him for the presidency.

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Black music queen Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ reinforces her devotion to Black consciousness and country music

Black music queen Beyoncé’s ‘Cowboy Carter’ reinforces her devotion to Black consciousness and country music

Beyoncé hails from Houston, a city with a rich musical interplay of “blues and country and hip-hop,” says Francesca T. Royster, a DePaul University professor and author of Black Country Music: Listening for Revolutions.

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UN in new $1.4 billion plan for 2.3 million South Sudanese refugees in East and Central Africa

UN in new $1.4 billion plan for 2.3 million South Sudanese refugees in East and Central Africa

The regional refugee plan complements a humanitarian appeal launched earlier this year, aimed at reaching 5.9 million people in South Sudan. Humanitarian partners will build on gains already made with host governments and regional bodies to improve the protection environment for refugees and asylum-seekers through enhanced access to asylum and civil documentation.

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French lawmakers condemn ‘bloody and murderous’ 1961 massacre of Algerian protesters

French lawmakers condemn ‘bloody and murderous’ 1961 massacre of Algerian protesters

About 12,000 Algerians were arrested in the crackdown and dozens were killed, “their bodies thrown into the Seine River,” President Emmanuel Macron acknowledged in 2021 on the 60th anniversary of the massacre.

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Nigeria’s Access Holding to seek shareholders’ nod to raise $1.5 billion via share or bond sale

Nigeria’s Access Holding to seek shareholders’ nod to raise $1.5 billion via share or bond sale

Shares of Nigerian-based Access Group, which operates across 15 countries, mostly in Africa but including Britain and France, rose 2.08 per cent to 24.50 naira on the Nigerian bourse. They hit a high of 30.70 naira in January.

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UN human rights calls for immediate and bold action to address ‘cataclysmic’ situation in Haiti

UN human rights calls for immediate and bold action to address ‘cataclysmic’ situation in Haiti

As of the end of January, a total of 900 schools had temporarily closed, affecting roughly 200,000 children. Threats to school security are particularly acute in the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince and in the northern part of nearby Artibonite province.

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Con: X owner Elon Musk fought government surveillance, while profiting off state surveillance

Con: X owner Elon Musk fought government surveillance, while profiting off state surveillance

In its petition to the Supreme Court last September, X’s attorneys took up the banner of communications privacy: “History demonstrates that the surveillance of electronic communications is both a fertile ground for government abuse and a lightning-rod political topic of intense concern to the public.” After the court declined to take up the case in January, Musk responded tweeting, “Disappointing that the Supreme Court declined to hear this matter.”

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Why insecure President Museveni, a Rwandan refugee, can’t surrender reins of power or deport Banyarwanda from Uganda

Why insecure President Museveni, a Rwandan refugee, can’t surrender reins of power or deport Banyarwanda from Uganda

In 1980, Museveni contested for the presidency in the general election by founding the Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM). The main contestant, UPC, was wary of Banyarwanda refugees voting for the Catholic dominated DP. In Museveni’s newly found home, Nyabushozi (Mbarara North Constituency), he was branded a ‘stranger and an immigrant’ and totally rejected in favour of Sam Kuteesa of DP.

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