Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | A Nigerian judge on Wednesday accused the country’s former oil minister of trying to “avoid justice” in Britain, as he dismissed an application for her to face corruption charges back home. Judge Rilwan Aikawa told the Federal High Court in Lagos that an attempt by Diezani …
Read More »S.Sudan’s Kiir in Sudan to ease ‘tense’ relations
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | South Sudanese President Salva Kiir began Wednesday a two-day visit to Sudan aimed at resolving border disputes and addressing mutual accusations of supporting rebels in each other’s territory. It is Kiir’s third visit to Khartoum since the Christian majority south split from the Muslim north in …
Read More »Mugabe calls for return of death penalty
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Wednesday called for the return of the death penalty, after more than 50 people applied for the vacant position of hangman. Capital punishment is on the statute book in Zimbabwe, but no one has been executed since 2005 when the country’s …
Read More »Trump says will terminate US green card lottery after NY attack
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he would end the popular US green card lottery as police said a radicalized Uzbek man staged the deadly truck ramming in New York after entering the country under the program. The move could spell the end to the …
Read More »Liberia Supreme Court hearing threatens to delay election run-off
Monrovia, Liberia | AFP | Liberia’s Supreme Court said it will summon the country’s election commission on Thursday over a legal complaint backed by three political parties regarding the October 10 presidential election, potentially delaying a runoff vote. In a document released late Tuesday, the Supreme Court called on the …
Read More »Nigeria’s Jonathan should be funded to attend graft trial: lawyer
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s former president Goodluck Jonathan should be given the equivalent of $2.7 million to testify at the corruption trial of his party’s former spokesman, his lawyer said on Tuesday. The money would cover costs to enable him to attend the case, Mike Ozekhome told reporters outside …
Read More »Russia indictments dull Trump’s cry of ‘fake news’
Washington, United States | AFP | A wave of indictments has undercut Donald Trump’s attempts to paint allegations of collusion with Russia in his election as a media invention, with the White House admitting the probe is rattling the president. Trump counterpunched in typical fashion Tuesday, a day after it was …
Read More »Kenya’s Odinga rejects ‘sham’ election, pledges to fight on
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenya’s opposition leader Raila Odinga on Tuesday rejected outright the result of last week’s “sham” election, vowing to fight on after the protest-hit poll that handed President Uhuru Kenyatta a landslide win. “This election must not stand. If allowed to stand, it will make a …
Read More »Paul Manafort: insider politial strategist who led Trump campaign
Washington, United States | AFP | Paul Manafort, President Donald Trump’s former campaign chairman who was indicted on Monday, had always worked behind the scenes in lucrative consultant deals before the 2016 US presidential race. The veteran strategist advised Gerald Ford in the 1970s and Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, …
Read More »Former army chief says ‘team’ ready to lead Singapore if asked
Singapore, Singapore | AFP | A fast-rising cabinet minister and former army chief seen as a frontrunner to succeed Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said Monday that he and other younger officials were ready to lead Singapore if asked. Political succession in the affluent city-state was thrust into the limelight …
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