Taliban bomb kills 26
KABUL: A car bomb attack by Taliban militants killed 26 people this week in western Kabul near the residence of Mohammad Mohaqiq, the deputy to Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah.
“Forty-one others were injured,” Shah Hussain Murtazawi, a spokesperson for the Afghan presidential palace, said.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said the bombing targeted two buses of the Afghan spy agency, killing 37 personnel. – DPA
Activists released
CARACAS: Dozens of activists in Venezuela, who government opponents considered political prisoners, were released from jail on Friday in what authorities called a gesture to unite the nation.
Among the 39 prisoners set free under strict conditions was former mayor of San Cristobal Daniel Ceballos, who had been detained for four years. Newly re-elected President Nicolas Maduro said: “It’s a sign of strength and not weakness, as some have said. No more violence, please. No more war.”
Petrol boss quits
RIO DE JANEIRO: President of Brazilian state oil company Petrobras Pedro Parente resigned on Friday, the latest fallout from a crippling truckers’ strike over fuel prices that has widespread implications for the future of Latin America’s largest economy. The strike led to shortages of supplies from food to medicine, shuttered thousands of schools and grounded flights. It ended earlier this week when President Michel Temer announced plans to subsidise a 10% drop in the price of diesel for 60 days.
Sisi inaugurated
CAIRO: Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-sisi was inaugurated yesterday for a second fouryear term after winning the presidential election in March. He has been president since June 2014.
“Health care, education and culture will be the centre of my attention,” Sisi said.
He also mentioned his foreign policy priorities, which are improving relations with Egypt’s partners, not meddling in foreign conflicts and respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other states.
Gay adoption first
BERLIN: Two men have become the first gay couple to adopt a child in Germany, just nine days after same-sex marriage had been legalised in the country.
Michael and Kai Korok’s bid to adopt a child was approved on Tuesday by a court in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district, making them the child’s legal guardians, according to the Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany.
The couple were married on October 2. They have been foster parents to Maximilian since he was born.
Change is brewing
NEW YORK: Starbucks closed 8 000 stores on Tuesday for what was widely billed as anti-bias training for its 175 000 staff that focused on discrimination, racial justice and the experiences of people of colour in its stores. During the training, guidebooks touted “Starbucks: the third place”, a phrase chairperson Howard Schultz has been using for years to describe his belief Starbucks could offer a place of refuge between home and work. Employees were warned in the training that “discrimination is a real threat to the “third place”.
Sources: Ap/dpa/sputnik/reuters/african News Agency/ana