Suicide car bomber attacks heart of Afghanistan's Kabul
At least 28 killed and more than 300 wounded in first major Kabul attack since the Taliban announced "spring offensive".
| Afghanistan
At least 28 people were killed and more than 300 wounded when a suicide bomber blew up a bus full of explosives near a government security building in the heart of Kabul.
After the intial blast, which was described as huge by witnesses, armed men and more suicide bombers stormed the heavily-guarded compound, police said.
Al Jazeera's Qais Azimy, reporting from Kabul, said Tuesday's attack, which was quickly claimed by the Taliban, was likely the biggest such incident to hit the capital since 2001.
With the attack happening during morning rush-hour in a crowded area, the number of deaths was likely to rise, according to police.
China's toxic school: officials struggle to contain uproar over sick students
Illnesses ranging from nosebleeds to leukaemia among pupils at Changzhou Foreign Languages School, with highly toxic illegal waste dumping blamed
Environmental activists in China are calling for new laws and an independent investigation into how hundreds of Chinese students fell ill – in some cases severely – after attending a school built on a toxic waste dump.
In a case that is being compared to one of the worst environmental catastrophes in US history, about 500 students at a school in the eastern province of Jiangsu have reportedly been affected since late 2015 by ailments including nosebleeds, headaches, coughs, rashes and, in the worst instances, lymphoma and leukaemia.
According to reports in the Chinese media, tests on the soil and air around the Changzhou Foreign Languages School have detected hazardous levels of toxins, including chlorobenzene, a highly toxic solvent that causes damage to the liver, kidney and nervous system.
Suspected Isis recruiter arrested on Spanish island of Mallorca accused of inciting terror attacks
The 26-year-old Moroccan man was allegedly in contact with militants in Syria
A suspected Isis recruiter accused of inciting terror attacks in Europe has been arrested in Mallorca.
The 26-year-old Moroccan man was arrested in a counter-terror operation on the Spanish island, which is popular with British holidaymakers.
Police said the suspect was arrested on Tuesday at his home in the city of Palma de Mallorca.
A spokesperson for the Spanish interior ministry said the detainee posed “a clear threat to national security” and had used the internet to target young potential Isis recruits online, help send fighters abroad and encourage attacks in Spain and elsewhere in Europe.Tuareg families left homeless after Algeria razes shanty town
Several dozen Tuareg families have been made homeless after Algerian authorities razed a shanty town in Tamanrasset. With little hope of finding new accommodation, the situation has become desperate, and the evicted families have been forced to sleep rough.
The 'al-Qamar' shanty town was torn down on April 7. Residents clashed with security forces, leaving several people injured.
The day after the operation, dozens of families held a sit-in that lasting two days in front of the headquarters of the regional government - known as a 'Wilaya' – to demand social housing.
Zika, recession, political scandal loom over Brazil Olympics
Updated 1358 GMT (2058 HKT) April 19, 2016
This year, Brazil is scheduled to open its arms to people from all over the world for the 2016 Summer Olympics.
With the Games nearly three months away, the country is facing a series of unprecedented challenges: the Zika outbreak, which has been connected to a rare birth defect in infant children; a crippling recession that has left hundreds of thousands unemployed and sent inflation through the roof; and a political crisis that has implicated some of the country's most powerful lawmakers.
Now, President Dilma Rousseff may have to step down, leading many to ask: Will the Olympics happen?
As drought deepens, African nations struggle to get globe's attention
PATHS FORWARD
It's been at least three decades since southern and eastern Africa have seen this level of drought. In an ironic twist, the progress countries have made in responding to drought may be making it harder to get the outside help many need.
GELUKSPAN, SOUTH AFRICA — The sky above Ramoso Pholo’s fields is a glossy, postcard blue, drenching light over his neatly planted rows of corn, beans, and sunflowers. From a distance, it looks bucolic, but up close it is anything but.
For the past six months, Mr. Pholo has been waiting for clouds to blot this shimmering horizon and rains to soften his bone-dry fields. Instead, his neat rows of sunflowers have withered, and his corn stalks – normally as tall as he – are frozen waist-high.
“I have been farming my entire life and this is the worst season I have ever seen,” he says, cradling the head of a slumping sunflower. “About 99 percent of my crops are damaged – this year will be a total failure.”
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