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 »Young, hip Zimbabweans flock to rejuvenated arts fest
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Young, fashion-conscious and eager for change, thousands of Zimbabweans spent this week partying at music concerts and open-air bars during a six-day festival hosted in the capital against all the odds. The Harare International Festival of the Arts (HIFA), founded in 1999, was abandoned last …
Read More »Ex-presidents urge action to heal ‘sick’ South Africa
Johannesburg, South Africa | Three former South African presidents for the first time issued a joint call for action Friday to end the nation’s “worsening” political crisis, the latest campaign targeting President Jacob Zuma. In an unprecedented move, the country’s living former heads of state — Thabo Mbeki, F.W. de …
Read More »Nigeria’s Buhari emerges
Nigeria’s Buhari seen in public for first time in weeks PHOTOS: President @MBuhari with Chief of Staff Abba Kyari and NSA Babagana Monguno, at Juma’at prayer at the State House Mosque, today. pic.twitter.com/pbmrmvBxXx — Presidency Nigeria (@NGRPresident) May 5, 2017 Abuja, Nigeria | Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday made …
Read More »South African court orders Zuma to explain shock cabinet reshuffle
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | A South African High Court Thursday ordered President Jacob Zuma to reveal the documents he used to justify the controversial sacking of a widely respected finance minister, sparking economic turmoil. The main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) went to court to force Zuma to explain …
Read More »Petrol shortages expose Burundi’s economic woes
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | A lack of foreign currency means petrol pumps are running dry across Burundi, the government has admitted, as the country struggles with a serious two-year-old political crisis. Long queues have been quickly forming in the capital Bujumbura where petrol is only available at some of …
Read More »Politics, potholes and price drops: the story of Kenya’s crude
Lokichar, Kenya | AFP | Kenya plans to export its first oil in June, but analysts say the test phase faces major challenges and appears motivated primarily by political considerations just months ahead of elections. British company Tullow announced the discovery of oil in Kenya in March 2012, when prices …
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