Ivanka to help US choose
candidate for WB
AFP, Washington
President Donald Trump’s daughter and advisor Ivanka will help the United States choose its candidate to lead the World Bank but she will not be the one, the White House said on Monday.
Jim Yong Kim abruptly announced last week that he would cut short his tenure as president of the Washington-based global development lender more than three years before his second term was to end.
Chinese court sentences Canadian drug
suspect to death
AFP, Dalian
A Chinese court sentenced a Canadian man to death on drug trafficking charges on Monday after his previous 15-year prison sentence was deemed too lenient, deepening a diplomatic rift as Canadian premier Justin Trudeau accused Beijing of “arbitrarily” using capital punishment.
Robert Lloyd Schellenberg, 36, nodded as the judge in the northeast city of Dalian asked him whether he understood the verdict, following a day-long retrial in which he declared his innocence, saying, “I am not a drug smuggler. I came to China as a tourist”.
Seoul drops ‘enemy’ reference to
North Korea
AFP, Seoul
Seoul crossed out a reference to nuclear-armed North Korea as its enemy in a defence white paper published Tuesday, amid rapidly warming ties despite stalled nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington.
The 1950-53 Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty, placing a heavily fortified border across the peninsula and leaving it still technically at war.
Uganda presidential age limit challenged in court
AFP, Kampala
Uganda’s Supreme Court on Tuesday began hearing a petition to challenge a constitutional court decision removing an age limit cap of 75 for presidential candidates. Critics of the decision argue it would allow President Yoweri Museveni, 74, to seek re-election for a sixth term in 2021. A bill removing the limit was signed into law in December 2017 after a chaotic passage through parliament that saw MPS engaging in fisticuffs. The constitutional court upheld the amendment in a ruling in July 2018.
Boko Haram attacks military base in Nigeria
AFP, Kano
Boko Haram fighters attacked a military base in remote northeast Nigeria, setting fire to shelters for those made homeless by the conflict, military and humanitarian sources told AFP Tuesday.
The attack in Rann, some 175 kilometres (110 miles) northeast of the Borno state capital, Maiduguri, began late on Monday afternoon and forced civilians to flee.
It followed a pattern by the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) faction of Boko Haram that has called into question government claims the group is virtually defeated.
