Kisumu, Kenya | AFP | A young man was shot dead in western Kenya on Monday as hundreds of opposition supporters again took to the streets demanding reforms ahead of a presidential election, witnesses told AFP. Police teargassed a large crowd of protesters in the opposition stronghold of Kisumu, who set …
Read More »Thirsty protests’ hit Morocco over water shortages
Rabat, Morocco | AFP | Residents angered by persistent water shortages in southern Morocco have taken to the streets in a series of “thirsty protests” that has grabbed the attention of the country’s king. Since the start of the summer, inhabitants in the region of desert town Zagora have been left …
Read More »Turkey offers medical help as others condemn Somalia bombing
Paris, France | AFP | Britain, Turkey and the African Union on Sunday strongly condemned the weekend suicide bombing in Somalia, the worst attack to date with at least 137 deaths. Saturday’s blast occurred at a junction in Hodan, a bustling commercial district of the capital Mogadishu which has many …
Read More »Liberia’s Weah, Boakai face presidential runoff next month
Monrovia, Liberia | AFP | Former international footballer George Weah and Liberia’s Vice President Joseph Boakai will face a runoff for the country’s presidency on November 7, the national election commission announced Sunday. With tallies in from 95.6 percent of polling stations, Weah took 39.0 percent of the votes and Boakai …
Read More »Joseph Boakai: Liberia Vice-president shaking off sleepy image
Monrovia, Liberia | AFP | President Ellen Sirleaf’s vice president since 2005, Joseph Boakai has campaigned as a natural transition candidate after helping to ensure peace has prevailed in Liberia since back-to-back civil wars. Boakai will face former footballer George Weah in a runoff for the presidency on November 7, …
Read More »Bomb kills four Pakistani troops searching for kidnappers
Islamabad, Pakistan | AFP | A bomb Sunday killed four Pakistani soldiers as they searched for militants linked to the kidnapping of a US-Canadian family who were freed last week. The incident happened near the Kharlachi checkpoint in Kurram district in the restive tribal belt bordering Afghanistan. The family were being …
Read More »World leaders condemn Somalia bombing ‘in strongest terms’
Paris, France | AFP | World leaders from the United States, Britain and France on Sunday strongly condemned the weekend suicide bombing in Somalia, the worst attack in the country to date with at least 137 deaths. Saturday’s blast occurred at a junction in Hodan, a bustling commercial district of …
Read More »Somalia’s deadliest bombing ever
Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | At least 276 people have been killed and 300 injured by a massive truck bomb that tore through a busy shopping district of Mogadishu, the government said Monday, making it the deadliest attack ever to hit conflict torn Somalia. Desperate residents of the capital searched …
Read More »George Weah: from football pitch to presidential palace?
Monrovia, Liberia | AFP | George Weah, 51, emerged from Liberia’s slums to become a superstar footballer in the 1990s, and has leveraged his status as a revered figure among young people in his second run for the presidency. Now Weah has a confirmed place in the runoff round against …
Read More »Mogadishu reels as truck bomb toll hits 137
Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | The death toll from a massive weekend truck bomb in a busy shopping district of Mogadishu surged to at least 137, police said Sunday, warning it could rise further after one of the worst-ever attacks to hit war-torn Somalia. The figure was a huge jump …
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