The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | The chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court said Monday she was opening a preliminary probe into violence in Burundi, which has been engulfed in a deep political crisis for a year. ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said she had been following events closely since …
Read More »WHO: Six African nations could be malaria-free by 2020
Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | Six countries in Africa, the continent where malaria is most widespread, could be free of the disease by 2020, according to a WHO report published Monday to mark World Malaria Day. One of the goals of the World Health Organization’s 2016-2030 programme against malaria is …
Read More »Africa’s longest-serving leaders…Obiang, Dos Santos, Mugabe
Paris, France | AFP | Tiny, oil-rich Equatorial Guinea goes to the polls Sunday in an election that is expected to return President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, Africa’s longest-serving leader, for another seven years. Obiang came to power in a 1979 coup, ousting his own uncle, Francisco Macias Nguema, who was …
Read More »Machar to miss international deadline to return
Juba, South Sudan | AFP | South Sudan rebel chief Riek Machar will miss an international deadline on Saturday to return to the capital to take up the post of vice president, the government said, with his arrival now expected next week. UN chief Ban Ki-moon has urged Machar to …
Read More »After 36-year rule, EGuinea leader set for all-time Africa record
Malabo, Equatorial Guinea | AFP | Africa’s longest-serving ruler, Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, looks set to win a fresh seven-year term Sunday that could also see him nail the all-time record for African leaders, living or dead. After almost 37 years at the helm of the tiny oil-rich …
Read More »South Sudan’s peace deal hangs by a thread
Juba, South Sudan | AFP | In a country awash with guns, a faltering peace deal aimed at ending over two years of intense civil war in South Sudan came down to a dispute over just two dozen weapons. The issue, while apparently minor, reflects the huge mistrust between the …
Read More »Kenya approves new anti-doping law ahead of WADA deadline
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenya on Friday approved a new anti-doping law which the east African track giant hopes will lift the threat of their exclusion from the Rio Olympics. President Uhuru Kenyatta signed the legislation well ahead of a May 2 deadline imposed by World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). …
Read More »Obiang leads Eq. Guinea from terror to oil
MALABO, Equatorial Guinea | AFP | Equatorial Guinea’s tough President Teodoro Obiang Nguema seized power almost 37 years ago from a feared and ruthless uncle and has steered the tiny but now oil-rich nation with an iron glove. Already Africa’s longest-serving leader, the 73-year-old looks set to win a fresh …
Read More »South Sudan wrestles as they wait for Machar
Juba, South Sudan | AFP | The giants dance barefoot in circles, strips of leopard print skirt flapping, before one lunges in to topple his opponent and thump him down on the grass. There is a wild roar of support from hundreds of supporters crammed into the national football stadium …
Read More »Ethiopia troops cross into S.Sudan in hunt for abducted children
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Ethiopian troops have crossed into South Sudan in search of children abducted by armed men from across the border last week, a government spokesman said Wednesday. “The army has been conducting reconnaissance missions in South Sudan and they have a clear idea of where …
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