Our MPs’ move to extend their term of office is not only a sign of selfishness but also moral corruption. The Ugandan MPs are treating us like Russia’s Stalin who inflicted unimaginable pain on a hen, that walked back to him expecting grain. COMMENT | Allawi Ssemanda | It is sickening. …
Read More »S.Africa’s ANC elects new chief – who else is in the race?
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Seven candidates are battling to succeed President Jacob Zuma as the leader of the African National Congress at the party’s conference starting Saturday. Vice President Cyril Ramaphosa and ex-African Union chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma are the frontrunners in a divisive race. Here are portraits of five …
Read More »Cyril Ramaphosa: tycoon, negotiator… and S.Africa’s next leader?
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is within touching distance of South Africa’s top job, previously had his presidential hopes dashed and opted for life in business that brought him spectacular wealth. After failing to clinch the ANC nomination to succeed president Nelson Mandela in 1999, …
Read More »Trump criticizes FBI and says no pardon for Flynn ‘yet’
Washington, UNITED STATES | AFP | US President Donald Trump on Friday lashed out at the FBI inquiry into possible collusion between Moscow and his campaign, and refused to rule out pardoning former aide Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying about his contacts with Russia. Trump said it was …
Read More »Trump: Russia not helping on North Korea
Washington, UNITED STATES | AFP | US President Donald Trump criticized Russia Friday for not doing enough to pressure North Korea to halt its nuclear weapons program. “China is helping, Russia is not helping. We would like to have Russia’s help,” he told reporters outside the White House. Trump said …
Read More »Putin’s ex-minister gets eight years over $2 mn bribe
Moscow, RUSSIAN FEDERATION | AFP | A Russian court on Friday sentenced former economy minister Alexei Ulyukayev to eight years in a penal colony on charges of taking a $2 million bribe from an ally of President Vladimir Putin. Ulyukayev is the highest-ranking official arrested in Putin’s 18 years in …
Read More »Zimbabwe’s Mnangagwa set to strengthen grip at party meeting
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe’s new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, is expected to use a conference of the ruling ZANU-PF party on Friday to consolidate his grip on power after Robert Mugabe’s shock ouster last month. Mnangagwa took office after the military forced Mugabe to resign, ending a 37-year reign marked …
Read More »Anti-apartheid heroes slam Zuma as ANC elects new chief
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | The African National Congress was lauded for its moral authority in the fight against apartheid in South Africa, but many veterans of that era are deeply disillusioned by the party’s actions today. As delegates prepare to elect a new leader to succeed Jacob Zuma, …
Read More »Putin’s ex-minister risks decade in jail over $2 mn ‘bribe’
Moscow, Russia | AFP | A Russian court is set to rule Friday in the high-profile trial of former economy minister Alexei Ulyukayev, who is accused of taking a bribe from an oil boss close to President Vladimir Putin. Prosecutors have asked the Moscow court to find the 61-year-old guilty on …
Read More »US sentences nephews of Venezuelan first lady to 18 years
New York, United States | AFP | A US judge on Thursday sentenced two nephews of Venezuela’s first lady to 18 years in prison for drug trafficking, damning them as “not the most astute drug traffickers that ever existed.” Efrain Antonio Campo Flores, 31, and Francisco Flores de Freitas, 32, …
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