MADAGASCAR

Pope Francis planted a baobab tree with Madagascar President Andry Rajoelina at the presidential palace in Antananarivo

Pope pleads with Madagascans to protect rainforest

Pope Francis on Saturday made an impassioned plea to Madagascans to protect the Indian Ocean's unique environment from "excessive deforestation", on the second leg of his African tour.Weeks after a spike of fires in the Amazon, the Argentine pontiff told his hosts they should "create jobs and money-making activities which respect the environment and help people escape poverty".Madagascar -- famed for its immense diversity of flora and fauna -- is home to 25 million people, the vast majority of whom live in poverty on an income of less than two dollars a day.

Pope rails against 'vengeance' as he ends Mozambique visit

The pope warned that vengeance could result in an endless spiral of violence
Pope Francis on Friday told tens of thousands of faithful at a packed stadium not to resort to "vengeance" as he wound up a visit to Mozambique, ravaged by a 16-year civil war and now the target of jihadist attacks.His maiden visit to the poor former Portuguese colony came a month after the government and the former rebel group Renamo, now the main opposition party, signed a historic peace treaty.

Tensions ease in SAfrica-Nigeria xenophobia row

Aftermath: People rummage through looted foreign-owned shops in Malvern, a Johannesburg suburb
Tensions eased between twin African powerhouses South Africa and Nigeria on Thursday after Pretoria temporarily closed its diplomatic missions in the rival state following a wave of attacks on foreign-owned stores there that claimed 10 lives."Nigeria does not seek an escalation of the ongoing situation," a senior aide to Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari told reporters on condition of anonymity.
More news

Four European states lose measles eradication status as cases soar: WHO

Measles cases are skyrocketing in Europe and the disease is surging in four countries previously considered to have eliminated it, including the UK, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned Thursday, urging countries to step up vaccination efforts."Re-establishment of measles transmission is concerning. If high immunisation coverage is not achieved and sustained in every community, both children and adults will suffer unnecessarily and some will tragically die," warned Gunter Pfaff, the head of the WHO's European Regional Verification Commission for Measles and Rubella Elimination.
Abortion

Alabama Passes Most Pro-Life Bill In US: Countries With Strict Anti-Abortion Laws

According to the Guttmacher Institute, 26 countries in the world still have a blanket ban on abortion, with no explicit legal reasons for exceptions. This meant that women living in those nations are forbidden from legally terminating their pregnancies even if it was the result of rape or incest, regardless of the consequences to their own health.
mh370

MH370 News: Missing Plane Crashed North Of Search Zone, Study Claims

A new study revealed that the probable crash site of the Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 was near 25 degrees south in the Indian Ocean. The study was conducted by oceanographers from the University of Miami and the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (UM) in Florida.

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