Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump on Tuesday made the shock decision to fire his FBI director James Comey, the man who leads the agency charged with investigating his campaign’s ties with Russia. The surprise dismissal of Comey, who played a controversial role in the 2016 …
Read More »Kabila under pressure, names new government under power-sharing deal
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Congolese President Joseph Kabila named an expanded new government on Tuesday, with almost all his old team retained, as part of power-sharing deal to end a crisis over his wish to remain in power. The presidential list of 60 ministers, read out on television, …
Read More »South Sudan President Kiir sacks controversial army chief Gen. Malong
Juba, South Sudan | AFP | South Sudan President Salva Kiir sacked his powerful, hardline army chief Paul Malong on Tuesday, a government spokesman said. General Paul Malong, long regarded as an ethnic nationalist of Kiir’s majority Dinka tribe, was replaced by General James Ajongo Mawut, a career soldier. South …
Read More »Landslide win for Moon in South Korea election: exit poll
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | Left-leaning former human rights lawyer Moon Jae-In won South Korea’s presidential election by a landslide Tuesday, according to an exit poll, sealing the momentum for change after a tumultuous scandal. The ballot was called to choose a new president after Park Geun-Hye was ousted …
Read More »Zimbabwe’s Mugabe flies to Singapore for health check
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe’s 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe has flown to Singapore for a “routine medical check-up”, state media reported Tuesday. “President Mugabe yesterday (Monday) left Zimbabwe for Singapore for his routine medical check-up,” The Herald newspaper reported. “He is expected back in Zimbabwe at the weekend.” The …
Read More »Bill Clinton co-writes White House thriller
New York, United States | AFP | Bill Clinton might have hoped to spend this year back in the White House as America’s “first gentleman,” should his wife Hillary have won the 2016 election. Instead, the two-term Democratic president is moving into fiction, writing his first thriller about drama behind …
Read More »VIDEO: South Africa ‘coup plotter’ granted bail
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | A South African court Monday granted bail to a man charged with conspiracy to assassinate top politicians including President Jacob Zuma in an apparent bid to enforce a change of government. Elvis Ramosebudi, 33, allegedly approached private companies to fund his plot before he …
Read More »Sally Yates to testify as reports say Obama warned Trump not to hire Flynn
Washington, United States | AFP | Barack Obama warned his soon to be successor Donald Trump against hiring Michael Flynn as his national security advisor, a former administration official told AFP Monday. As President Trump sought to blame the Obama administration for missing Flynn’s links with Russian contacts, the former …
Read More »Nigeria president Buhari leaves for ‘follow-up medical consultation’
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari headed to London on Sunday for what his office said was a “follow-up medical consultation” with his doctors, after weeks of mounting concern about his health. Presidency spokesman Femi Adesina said the 74-year-old doctors would determine how long he stayed in …
Read More »French election: what you need to know
Paris, France | AFP | Pro-EU centrist Emmanuel Macron takes on far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in the second-round run-off of France’s presidential election on Sunday. – Why is it important? – France is the eurozone’s second-biggest economy as well as a global military and diplomatic heavyweight, with veto power as …
Read More »