Libreville, Gabon | AFP | An internal inquiry for the United Nations recommends tactical changes to the UN mission in the Central African Republic to protect civilians, according to findings made available Friday to AFP. “(The mission) MINUSCA should overhaul its strategy to protect civilians to ensure that its operational …
Read More »Burundi claims diplomatic win with hosting of regional summit
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Burundi’s government claimed a diplomatic victory Friday with the announcement that it would host a regional trade summit later this year. The tiny central African nation has been in the cold since President Pierre Nkurunziza’s run for a controversial third term in 2015 plunged the …
Read More »#MeToo movement ‘long overdue’ says Nigerian author Adichie
Paris, France | AFP | The great global reckoning with sexual harassment is “long overdue”, says acclaimed Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, but the feminist figurehead in Africa hopes it is not “a passing fad”. As the global #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct continues in the wake of the disgraced …
Read More »UN in talks on peacekeeper failings in C. Africa
United Nations, United States | AFP | The United Nations is in talks with countries that contribute peacekeepers to its mission in the Central African Republic after an investigation found their response to attacks last year fell short, a UN spokesman said Friday. A special investigation led by a retired …
Read More »Lebanon says Israel behind car bomb targeting Hamas official
Beirut, Lebanon | AFP | Lebanese authorities on Friday said Israel was involved in a car bomb blast that targeted an official of the Palestinian movement Hamas in southern Lebanon earlier this month. Mohammad Hamdan was wounded when a bomb placed in his car detonated in the southern port city …
Read More »Spanish tourists ‘raped, robbed’ in southern Senegal
Ziguinchor, Senegal | AFP | A group of Spanish tourists were robbed and raped in Senegal’s restive Casamance region by armed men, a security source and state media said on Friday. The tourists’ vehicle was stopped near the village of Karonge, around 60 kilometres (37 miles) from the regional capital …
Read More »DR Congo president Kabila stands by election timetable
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | DR Congo President Joseph Kabila on Friday stood by the timetable for delayed elections despite demands that he step down ahead of the poll. “We have to have elections as scheduled,” Kabila said at his first press conference since 2012, referring to the date …
Read More »US military probes purported Niger ambush video
Washington, United States | AFP | The US military has opened an investigation after images surfaced online this week that appear to have been taken from the helmet camera of one of the US soldiers killed in an ambush in Niger. Grainy photographs posted and circulated on Twitter purportedly show …
Read More »US drones ‘wiping out’ Shabaab in Somalia: AU mission head
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Drone strikes by the United States military are “wiping out” Shabaab militants in Somalia, the head of the African Union mission in the country told AFP in an interview Friday. The US has stepped up its operations in the war-torn Horn of Africa nation, …
Read More »Kenyatta names Cabinet, picks Kilonzo High Commissoner to Uganda
Nairobi, Kenya | THE INDEPENDENT | Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta has announced his full Cabinet, after 85 days of taking oath of office, and named new postings of ambassadors including to Uganda.Ambassador Kiema Kilonzo who has been in Ankara, Turkey will be Kenya’s new High Commissioner to Uganda, taking over …
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