Stanytsya Luganska, Ukraine | AFP | While Ukrainian troops were stationed in her village, Anna felt safe despite living on the frontline of a war that has claimed thousands of lives over the last five years. But since they started to withdraw two months ago from Stanytsya Luganska, eastern Ukraine, she …
Read More »AU leaders set to sign landmark trade deal at African Summit
Niamey, Niger | AFP | African leaders will meet Sunday in Niger for the African Union (AU) summit, to sign a landmark free trade agreement, and to discuss looming security and migration crises on the continent. In a “historic” moment for the 55-member bloc, according to its chairman Moussa Faki, …
Read More »Kiir, Machar agree 6 month delay to unity govt
South Sudan rivals agree to delay forming unity government Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | South Sudan’s warring parties agreed Friday to delay by six months the formation of a power-sharing government just days before it was due to be installed in the capital Juba. Representatives for President Salva Kiir …
Read More »South Sudan rivals meet in bid to salvage stalled peace deal
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | South Sudan’s warring parties will hold talks in Addis Ababa on Thursday, in a bid to salvage a stalled peace deal, with just days to go until a unity government is meant to be formed. President Salva Kiir, rebel leader Riek Machar and a …
Read More »IGAD summons Kiir and Machar to Addis talks
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The rivals in South Sudan’s conflict have been invited to hold talks in Ethiopia’s capital next week to nudge along a fragile peace deal that has suffered repeated setbacks, according to a letter seen Thursday by AFP. The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional …
Read More »From comic to commander-in-chief: challenges for new Ukraine leader
Kiev, Ukraine | AFP | Ukraine’s election has catapulted Volodymyr Zelensky, a 41-year-old standup comedian and television star with no political experience, into the nation’s top job. As leader of a country dependent on international aid and battling separatists, Zelensky will have to deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin, deep …
Read More »New limbs, new life for South Sudan amputees
Juba, South Sudan | AFP | Stephen, 12, romps confidently around the sunlit courtyard, weaving in between wheelchair-bound patients as he plays with the other children, his prosthetic leg barely a hindrance. When he was five years old, the car he and his family were travelling in hit a landmine …
Read More »Roads deadlier than guns in Libya
Tripoli, Libya | AFP | Roads in conflict-riddled Libya, where petrol is cheaper than mineral water, rank among the deadliest in the world. Disregard for traffic rules, a dilapidated infrastructure and cars that fail to meet safety standards combine to make road accidents in Libya more lethal than incidents involving …
Read More »Libya in chaos since 2011 overthrow of Kadhafi
Tripoli, Libya | AFP | Libya has been mired in chaos since the ouster and killing of dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, with two rival authorities and a multitude of militias vying for control of the oil-rich country. Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar on Thursday ordered his troops to “advance” on …
Read More »S.Sudan holds breath as fragile peace faces crucial test
Udier, South Sudan | AFP | Chol Deng, her husband and five children sit, exhausted, under a tree, having journeyed back to South Sudan five years after fleeing their corpse-strewn hometown Malakal. Encouraged by a six-month lull in fighting as a peace deal holds for the first time since 2015, …
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