Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenya Airways on Thursday announced the resignation of its chief executive officer, a move demanded by pilots complaining of mismanagement at the troubled airline. CEO Mbuvi Ngunze will step down in the first quarter of 2017. His resignation follows that of chairman Dennis Awori only …
Read More »In Somalia, voting under way but democracy delayed
Baidoa, Somalia | AFP | With its security-sealed plastic boxes and cardboard polling booths, Somalia’s election –- under way since last month and still ongoing –- has the trappings of democracy, but few of the functions. Last week in the western city of Baidoa, 51 handpicked representatives of the Reer …
Read More »South African police nab Chinese man with 18 rhino horns
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South African police Thursday said they had arrested a Hong Kong-bound Chinese man found with 18 rhino horns hidden in his luggage. He was detained on Wednesday at Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport after an anonymous tip-off. “The 28-year-old male, who was in transit …
Read More »Egypt’s Sisi expresses support for Syrian military
Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has said he supports the Syrian military, a position at odds with his country’s Gulf benefactors like Saudi Arabia. The former army chief, who has overseen a warming of ties with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s main backer Russia, made the …
Read More »FEATURE: DR Congo’s business dreams flatlined by violence
Butembo, DR Congo | AFP | The question is so absurd that Butembo’s deputy mayor misses a beat before answering. What is the town’s unemployment rate? “Unemployment is the norm around these parts,” says Godefroid Kambere Matimbya. “There aren’t any businesses.” Butembo is no ghost town, but a city of …
Read More »Morocco quits Africa-Arab summit over presence of Polisario
Malabo, Equatorial Guinea | AFP | Morocco and several Arab countries walked out of an Africa-Arab nations summit in Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday to protest the presence of a delegation from the Polisario Front, media reports said. Morocco, which is a big investor in Africa, quit the fourth Africa-Arab World …
Read More »Top Kenyan official in court over Rio kit ‘theft’
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The chairman of Kenya’s Olympic committee appeared in court on Tuesday after police uncovered boxes of Nike kits at his apartment which had gone missing during the Rio Games. Bernard Ekumbo is the latest official from the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOCK) to be …
Read More »Zimbabwe war veterans in court for insulting Mugabe
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Five prominent Zimbabwe war veterans arrested earlier this year in a crackdown on critics of President Robert Mugabe, appeared in court Tuesday for insulting the 92-year-old leader. The Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association (ZNLWVA) spokesman, Douglas Mahiya, and four executives briefly appeared before a …
Read More »Egypt court quashes Morsi life sentence
Cairo, Egypt | AFP | An Egyptian appeals court Tuesday quashed one of two life sentences handed down to Mohamed Morsi since his 2013 overthrow, in the Islamist ex-president’s second appeals victory in a week. The Court of Cassation, Egypt’s highest appeals court, issued the verdict, Morsi’s lawyer and a …
Read More »‘Bye-Bye Kabila’ campaign launched in DR Congo
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Around a dozen opposition groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo united Tuesday in a campaign urging President Joseph Kabila to quit when his mandate officially ends on December 20. The “Bye-Bye Kabila” movement wants the president, who has been accused of delaying election …
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