SUPERPOWERS - AFRICA DAILY

Sweden and Denmark summon Russian ambassadors over air incident

Dec 15, 2014 (AFP)

Sweden and Denmark summoned Russia's ambassadors Monday in protest over a near miss between a Russian surveillance plane and a commercial aircraft, a further si...

Abe pledges Japan constitution rewrite after election win

Dec 15, 2014 (AFP)

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday vowed he would try to persuade a sceptical public of the need to revise Japan's pacifist constitution, the day after scoring...

Russia denies military jet near miss with airliner over Sweden

Dec 14, 2014 (AFP)

Russia's defence ministry on Sunday denied a report by Swedish military that a Russian military plane nearly collided this week with a passenger plane over Swed...

Baltics up defence spending as Russia buzzes borders

Dec 13, 2014 (AFP)

Russia's meddling in Ukraine has delivered a wake-up call on defence spending to small Baltic states which spent half a century under Soviet occupation and now ...

China rules: Why the pope ducked meeting with Dalai Lama

Dec 13, 2014 (AFP)

Pope Francis may be known for championing dialogue, but faced with the certainty of riling China, analysts say, he ducked out of a meeting with the Dalai Lama. ...

Ukraine is own worst threat: Russian deputy PM

Dec 13, 2014 (AFP)

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who oversees defence, said Saturday that Ukraine was its own worst threat, after Kiev announced plans to boost its...

Sweden says Russian jet nearly collided with passenger plane

Dec 13, 2014 (AFP)

A Russian military jet nearly collided with a commercial passenger plane that had just taken off from an airport in Denmark, the Swedish military said Saturday....

Desperate shortages leave Ukraine ill-prepared for trauma of war

Dec 13, 2014 (AFP)

With Ukraine still trapped in a Soviet-era approach to mental health and psychiatric hospitals so under-funded that some have less than 10 cents a day to feed p...

Vietnam upholds jail terms for activists

Dec 12, 2014 (AFP)

A Vietnamese appeal court on Friday upheld jail sentences against three activists who were convicted for "public disorder" offences earlier this year following ...

China angles for Central America influence in US 'backyard'

Dec 12, 2014 (AFP)

With ambitious plans for a canal through Nicaragua and a Honduran hydroelectric dam, Chinese firms are increasingly testing the waters in Central America, a reg...

China 'deeply disappointed' over US snub of IMF reform

Dec 12, 2014 (AFP)

Beijing said Friday it was "deeply disappointed" that Washington refused to back plans to reform the International Monetary Fund which would give emerging econo...

Assertive Russia causes military rethink in Sweden

Dec 12, 2014 (AFP)

With an assertive Russia next door, Sweden has started to beef up its military after a decade of downsizing, but a credible deterrent may take years to achieve,...

Nobel winners praise Cape Town mayor for Dalai Lama stand

Dec 11, 2014 (AFP)

Nobel peace prize winners on Thursday showered praise on Cape Town mayor Patricia de Lille for contesting President Jacob Zuma's refusal to grant the Dalai Lama...

Sweden bolsters military over 'Russian rearmament'

Dec 11, 2014 (AFP)

Sweden brought back the option Thursday of using reservists to boost its military force, citing "Russian rearmament" as one of the reasons for the decision. "We...

No Pope meeting for Dalai Lama as Vatican eyes China ties

Dec 11, 2014 (AFP)

Pope Francis will not meet the Dalai Lama when the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader visits Rome this weekend, a Vatican spokesman said Thursday -- a decision app...

Philippines leader's visit to S. Korea on again as storm departs

Dec 09, 2014 (AFP)

President Benigno Aquino will go ahead with a visit to South Korea this week after the Philippines weathered its latest typhoon better than expected, his spokes...

NATO intercepts Russian bombers over Baltic Sea

Dec 09, 2014 (AFP)

NATO warplanes intercepted a "significant" force of six Russian nuclear-capable bombers over the Baltic Sea, the alliance said in the latest such encounter amid...

How an anti-graft squad is rooting out corruption in Ukraine's army

Dec 09, 2014 (AFP)

It must rank as one of the world's most daunting jobs: tackling corruption in Ukraine's military. But with support from the president, a patriotic volunteer uni...

Ukraine peace talks delayed but ceasefire largely holds

Dec 09, 2014 (AFP)

Planned peace talks between Ukraine and pro-Russian rebels were postponed on Tuesday but a ceasefire appeared to be largely holding along the frontline in the e...

Philippines stands firm on sea dispute with China

Dec 08, 2014 (AFP)

The Philippines shrugged off criticism from China on Monday after Beijing slammed the nation for challenging its territorial claims in international courts, in ...