Security hampers 10-year African governance growth London, United Kingdom | AFP | Governance in Africa has gradually improved over the past 10 years but has been held back by deteriorating security and the rule of law, an annual index tracking development showed Monday. Some 70 percent of African citizens now …
Read More »Besigye says he will not be deterred
Former presidential candidate Kiiza Besigye has condemned the manner in which he was handled when he landed at Entebbe airport early Monday. Besigye accused security operatives of “kidnapping” him. Briefing journalists, Besigye said he was whisked away in a police vehicle to his home in Kasangati without his luggage and that his …
Read More »Why divided Colombia said ‘No’ to peace deal
Bogota, Colombia | AFP | Colombians say they are sick of their country’s 52-year civil war. So why did a thin majority of voters reject their biggest chance yet for peace? Forecasts ahead of Sunday’s surprise referendum result misjudged how divided Colombians are over how to settle the conflict …
Read More »EU observers were wiretapped during Gabon vote
Paris, France | AFP | Gabonese intelligence wiretapped EU election observers who voiced grave doubts over the outcome of hotly disputed August 27 polls in the oil-rich central African nation, a French weekly reported Sunday. In what it dubbed Gabon’s “Watergate”, the Journal du Dimanche (JDD) did not say how …
Read More »DRC electoral commission seeks to delay vote to late 2017
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The Democratic Republic of Congo’s electoral commission on Saturday said it would seek to delay calling voters to the polls until late 2017, though the opposition swiftly rejected the proposal. The announcement came amid opposition fears that President Joseph Kabila will not step …
Read More »THERESA MAY: a private woman and political enigma as UK PM
Birmingham, United Kingdom | AFP | Facing ever-louder calls to define what Brexit means, the honeymoon is already over for British Prime Minister Theresa May after her meteoric rise to Downing Street following the vote to leave the EU. May swept to power ultimately unopposed in July in an internal …
Read More »Handshakes, Hebrew and humour as Peres laid to rest
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | The gathering of world leaders for Friday’s funeral of Israel’s ex-president Shimon Peres featured a rare show of Israel-Palestinian detente, US President Barack Obama’s attempt at Hebrew and just a touch of humour. Handshake On arrival at Jerusalem’s Mount Herzl national cemetery, Palestinian president Mahmud …
Read More »Little mourning for Shimon Peres in Arab world
Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Mourned internationally as a peacemaker, Israeli ex-president Shimon Peres’s death has met with official silence in most Arab countries, where public opinion vilified the Nobel laureate as a “war criminal”. Of the 21 Arab states, only two — Egypt and Jordan — have full diplomatic …
Read More »ICC prosecutor opening initial probe into Gabon unrest
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said Thursday she was opening an initial probe into deadly unrest in Gabon sparked by disputed elections. The government of Gabon had asked the court to open an investigation “without delay” accusing supporters of opposition leader …
Read More »Angolan Jose Eduardo dos Santos’ pledge to quit in doubt
Luanda, Angola | AFP | Will he go, will he stay? Angola’s President Jose Eduardo dos Santos last week began his 38th year of largely unchallenged rule after promising to step down in 2018. “I have decided to leave political life in 2018,” the 74-year-old leader told party officials of …
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