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Sri Lanka's ousted leader hopes to return home: party
Sri Lanka's ousted leader hopes to return home: party
World
by  AFP

Sri Lanka's deposed former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa is seeking to return home from his exile in Thailand and has asked his successor to guarantee his safety, his party announced Friday. "Basil Rajapaksa requested the president to make arrangements for the former president to return home," the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) party said in a statement.

WHO pushes two Ebola treatments found to boost survival rates
WHO pushes two Ebola treatments found to boost survival rates
World
by  AFP

The World Health Organization said Friday that two existing treatments dramatically reduced deaths from Ebola and should be given to people of all ages suffering from the often-fatal haemorrhagic disease. Ebola is an often-fatal viral haemorrhagic fever that was first identified in central Africa in 1976.

Deadly wildfires contained in Algeria
Deadly wildfires contained in Algeria
World
by  AFP

Wildfires which killed at least 38 people and left a trail of destruction in northeastern Algeria this week have now been contained, a civil defence official told AFP on Friday. "Nobody came to help us, neither the fire service nor anyone else," he told AFP. Fires last year killed at least 90 people and seared 100,000 hectares (247,000 acres) of forest and farmland in the country's north.

S.Africa's Zulus to crown new king as succession row rages
S.Africa's Zulus to crown new king as succession row rages
World
by  AFP

South Africa's largest ethnic group, the Zulus, will on Saturday crown a new king following a year of feuding over who should ascend to the throne of the country's most influential traditional monarchy. Although the title of king does not bestow executive power, Zulu monarchs wield great moral influence over more than 11 million Zulus, who make up nearly a fifth of South Africa's population.