Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Islamist militants Boko Haram on Monday released a new video purporting to show at least 14 of the Chibok schoolgirls whose mass kidnapping nearly four years ago became a symbol of NIgeria’s brutal conflict. But despite a concerted global campaign for their release, and talks between …
Read More »ADF rebels launch new offensive in DRC, repelled
Three DR Congo soldiers killed fighting Ugandan rebels Beni, DR Congo | AFP | Three Democratic Republic of Congo soldiers died on Monday while repelling an attack in the eastern Beni region by ADF Ugandan Islamist rebels, who are suspected of murdering 14 UN peacekeepers last month. The army had …
Read More »Rwanda, Tanzania agree on SGR from Isaka to Kigali
Dar es Salaam, Tanzanai | XINHUA | Tanzania and Rwanda on Sunday agreed to construct a 400-kilometer standard gauge railway line from Isaka to Kigali in efforts to connect Rwanda, the landlocked east African country, to the Dar es Salaam port. Tanzanian President John Magufuli told a news conference in …
Read More »To live or die in Israel
African migrants in face a tough choice as mass deportation looms Kampala, Uganda | AGENCIES | In the next three months, Israel intends to force thousands of African asylum seekers out of the country. Their choice: An airline ticket and temporary financial assistance, or prison. Tania Krämer reports from Tel Aviv. …
Read More »Liberia party drops Sirleaf after Weah poll win
Monrovia, Liberia | AFP | Liberia’s ruling party said Sunday it had expelled outgoing President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for not backing her vice-president, Joseph Boakai, in a presidential election run-off lost to former footballer George Weah. Sirleaf, 79, will formally hand over power to Weah on January 22 after serving …
Read More »Angola’s Lourenco keeps pressure on Dos Santos cronies
Luanda, Angola | AFP | The first major scalp claimed by Angola’s new president Joao Lourenco in his war on corruption and nepotism was that of his predecessor’s daughter, who was sacked as head of the state oil company. The next big name linked to former president Jose Eduardo dos …
Read More »Senegal arrests 22 over Casamance loggers massacre
Ziguinchor, Senegal | AFP | Senegalese police said Sunday they have arrested 22 people suspected of involvement in a January 6 massacre of 14 young men in the troubled region of Casamance. The arrests were the first in connection with the killings in a region separated from the rest of Senegal …
Read More »The poverty of Africa’s elites
THE LAST WORD: Why the tendency of African intellectuals to blame leaders for the failures of our nations is escapism THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | I recently had a Twitter debate with Prof. George Ayittey; the Ghanaian author of `Africa Unchained: the blueprint for development’ (Palgrave/MacMillan, 2004) …
Read More »THIS WEEK: Lose power, lose doctorate: Former first lady Mugabe’s fate
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Zimbabwe’s anti-corruption commission says it is probing the circumstances surrounding the controversial awarding of a doctorate to former first lady Grace Mugabe. Mugabe, whose husband resigned in November under pressure from the military and ruling party, received a doctorate from the University of Zimbabwe …
Read More »Morocco repatriates its last migrants from Libya
Rabat, Morocco | AFP | Morocco on Saturday said it has started the third and final operation to repatriate its nationals stranded in Libya, a stepping stone to illegal migration to Europe. The ministry of expatriates and migration said the operation was launched on Friday and aimed at bringing home …
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