Twitter began the mass removal of its blue ticks on Thursday, as the symbol previously used to signify a verified account vanished from users including the Pope, Donald Trump and Justin Bieber.. But on Thursday high-profile accounts, as well as those of many reporters at AFP and other news organizations, appeared to have had the checkmarks removed.
The United Nations said Thursday up to 20,000 people had fled escalating violence in Sudan to seek safety in Chad, many of whom lacked basic needs such as food, water and shelter.. "The initial, most pressing, needs are water, food, shelter, health care, child protection, and prevention of gender-based violence.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva leaves Thursday for his first trip to Europe since taking office in January, amid a row with Western nations over his recent comments on the Ukraine war.. After a flurry of criticism from Europe, Ukraine and the United States -- including the White House, which accused him of "parroting Russian and Chinese propaganda" -- Lula dialed back what some saw as his anti-Western tone, saying Tuesday that Brazil "condemned" Russia's invasion.
French police fired teargas Thursday in a village in southern France to keep angry protesters away from President Emmanuel Macron, who was the target of chants and heckles for a second day over his unpopular pension reform. . In the run up to his speech, police fired teargas when hundreds of people shouting "Macron, resign!"
Lawyers for the Ugandan government have advised President Yoweri Museveni not to sign a draconian anti-gay bill passed by parliament last month as he met with ruling party lawmakers on Thursday to discuss the controversial legislation.. Lawyers for the government have advised the president to send the bill back to parliament, according to a letter sent by the deputy attorney general to the speaker of parliament on Thursday and seen by AFP. The move came as the European Parliament voted to condemn the bill and urged EU states to find a way to pressure Museveni into not implementing it, warning relations with Kampala were at stake.
A key figure in Mali's ruling junta died when an official convoy came under attack in the jihadist-hit north of the country, a document from the presidency said Thursday.. Oumar Traore -- chief of staff of Colonel Assimi Goita, the Sahel country's transitional president -- was among four people who died in the attack on Tuesday near the Mauritanian border.
SpaceX's Starship, the most powerful rocket ever built, exploded on Thursday during the first test flight of the spacecraft designed to send astronauts to the Moon, Mars and beyond.. It generates 17 million pounds of thrust, more than twice that of the Saturn V rockets used to send Apollo astronauts to the Moon.
French police fired teargas Thursday in a village in southern France where President Emmanuel Macron visited a school, a day after he was booed and heckled over his unpopular pension reform. . In the run up to his speech, police fired teargas when hundreds of people shouting "Macron, resign!"
A searing image of a pregnant Ukrainian victim of a Russian strike on a maternity hospital in the city of Mariupol won the 2023 World Press Photo of the Year award on Thursday.. Nissen won the 2021 World Press Photo of the Year award for a photo of an embrace during the Covid pandemic.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's rival in next month's election has confronted a Turkish political taboo by speaking out about being an Alevi -- a group targeted by decades of discrimination and violent attacks.. They have faced decades of persecution and have tended to keep their identity private because of discrimination and attacks on their houses of worship.
