Tag Archives: politics

Washington, United States | AFP |  Former US president Barack Obama took on a new high-profile role as Father Christmas on Wednesday for a surprise visit to sick children in Washington. Sporting a festive Santa hat and armed with a sack of gifts, he delighted young patients at Children’s National …

Oumdourman, Sudan | AFP |  Sudan’s main opposition leader Sadiq al-Mahdi returned to the country on Wednesday after almost a year in exile, an AFP pgotographer at the scene said. Mahdi arrived in Omdurman, Khartoum’s twin city on the west bank of the Nile, where he was greeted by a …

  Brasília, Brazil | AFP | Brazil’s leftist former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva remained in prison Wednesday as two supreme court judges issued competing orders over whether he should be released while he tries to get his graft conviction overturned. Lula, 73, was given unexpected hope earlier in the …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Tanzania’s opposition parties on Wednesday declared they would join forces in a campaign against the “dictatorship” of President John Magufuli. “The government has launched a war against opposition parties,” six groups said in a joint statement issued after a four-day meeting. “We declare the year …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South African police said Wednesday an arrest warrant had been issued for Grace Mugabe, wife of former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe, after she allegedly assaulted a model in Johannesburg in 2017. “The police investigated and we made an application to the courts and the …

Havana, Cuba | AFP | Cuba will leave out of its new constitution changes that would have paved the way for legal same-sex marriage, despite majority support in local assemblies, a government official said Tuesday. It was a surprising twist given public popular support shown nationwide — and earlier remarks …

Evidence shows that women’s political leadership strengthens governance capacity and cooperation with allies COMMENT | FATIMA AL ANSAR & SHONA BEZANSON | Last month, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appointed a new cabinet; ten of the 20 positions went to women. One week later, the country’s parliament unanimously elected Sahle-Work Zewde …

Washington, United States | AFP |  Journalists faced growing dangers of being targeted for killing for their work in 2018 even as the risks from war and conflict declined, a media watchdog said Wednesday. The Committee to Protect Journalists said 34 of the 53 journalists killed on duty this year …

Antananarivo, Madagascar | AFP | For months, they have bombarded voters with campaign slogans and speeches by “their” candidate, but on Tuesday, two fiercely-partisan media groups in Madagascar fell silent a day before the presidential run-off election. The “ceasefire” — in line with electoral law — is in stark contrast …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP |  An inquest into the fatal shooting of six people in post-election violence in Zimbabwe squarely blamed the military and police on Tuesday, saying the use of live fire was “unjustified and disproportionate”. The victims were gunned down and dozens others were wounded when soldiers opened …