Kampala, Uganda | AFP | Ugandan popstar turned opposition lawmaker Bobi Wine is in hiding after police raided a hotel he was staying in ahead of a concert, his lawyer said Sunday. Bobi Wine, whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, had been due to perform at a concert in Jinja, …
Read More »Ethiopia jails soldiers who protested for better pay
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | An Ethiopian court has jailed 66 soldiers over a rare protest in the capital in October demanding better pay, state media reported Saturday. The Ethiopia Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) reported that the soldiers would be jailed from five to 14 years each. In October, hundreds …
Read More »Zimbabwe’s Mnangagwa pledges reforms to promote democracy
Esigodini, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Saturday pledged to reform his party and promote democracy in his closing address to the ruling ZANU PF party’s annual conference. In a speech that marked the latest move in efforts to end his country’s international isolation, he told delegates: …
Read More »Former Ethiopian president Girma Woldegiorgis dies: state media
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Former Ethiopian president Girma Woldegiorgis died on Saturday, two weeks short of his 95th birthday, state media reported. Girma was president of Ethiopia for twelve years between 2001 to 2013, a largely ceremonial role. His death was reported by the Ethiopia Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) …
Read More »US judge rules Obamacare unconstitutional, Democrats vow to appeal
Washington, United States | AFP | A federal judge in Texas ruled Friday that the US health care law known as Obamacare is unconstitutional — a ruling that opposition Democrats vowed to appeal. US District Judge Reed O’Connor’s ruling came in a lawsuit filed by several Republican state attorneys general and …
Read More »Zimbabwe to release election shooting probe next week
Esigodini, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa said Friday that a report probing deadly election violence when soldiers opened fire on protesters would be released next week. The shootings triggered international outrage and undermined Mnangagwa’s attempts to present the July election as a fresh start for Zimbabwe after …
Read More »Seven-year-old Guatemalan girl dies in US custody: report
Washington, United States | AFP | A seven-year-old Guatemalan girl died in American custody after being detained by US border police in New Mexico, The Washington Post reported on Thursday. The girl who illegally crossed the border from Mexico along with her father and dozens of others died last week …
Read More »Nearly 80% of Kinshasa vote material destroyed in fire: commission
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Nearly 80 percent of the materials for staging the December 23 election in DR Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, were destroyed when an election warehouse was torched overnight, officials said Thursday. The blaze ripped through a large warehouse in central Kinshasa in the early hours of …
Read More »VIDEO: US lashes out at ‘predatory’ China, Russia in Africa
Washington, United States | AFP | The United States lashed out Thursday at “predatory” Chinese and Russian involvement in Africa as it announced a leaner footprint on the continent that insists on accountability in trade and peacekeeping. In a speech billed as unveiling a new US strategy on Africa, national …
Read More »Trump says innocent in legal scandal, blames lawyer
Washington, United States | AFP | Donald Trump tried to shield himself from rising legal heat Thursday with tweets insisting that he never ordered his former lawyer Michael Cohen to break the law. The US president enters his third year in office facing an increasingly perilous situation as federal prosecutors …
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