United Nations, United States | AFP | Sudan faced calls from Western powers at the UN Security Council on Thursday to respect the rights of anti-government demonstrators and investigate violence that has left at least 24 dead. The council was meeting to discuss the situation in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region …
Read More »Zimbabwe activist in court for ‘subversion’ after protests
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwean activist Evan Mawarire appeared in court in Harare on Thursday to face subversion charges as authorities cracked down on anti-government protests in which doctors say 68 people suffered gunshot wounds. Nationwide demonstrations erupted on Monday after President Emmerson Mnangagwa announced that fuel prices were …
Read More »Doctor and child killed in Sudan protests as police break up march
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | A doctor and a child were killed Thursday during protests in Sudan’s capital, organisers of the anti-government demonstrations said, as police dispersed a crowd of hundreds marching towards the presidential palace. At least 26 people have died in protests that have rocked Sudan since they …
Read More »Sudan: nearly three decades under Bashir
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Here are key dates in Sudan since Omar al-Bashir came to power almost three decades ago. – 1989: coup – In June 1989 army brigadier Bashir seizes power in a coup backed by Islamist ideologue Hassan al-Turabi. Sudan then hosts radical Islamists, including Al-Qaeda chief …
Read More »Tear gas fired at protesters marching to Sudan presidential palace
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudanese police on Thursday fired tear gas at protesters marching towards the presidential palace, witnesses said, during a demonstration in the capital to demand the resignation of President Omar al-Bashir. Demonstrators chanting “Freedom, peace, justice” gathered in central Khartoum and began their march but riot …
Read More »Sudan: torn apart by war
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudan has been shattered by decades of conflict and ruled for nearly 30 years by Omar al-Bashir, who has been indicted internationally for genocide. Here is some background about the large partly desert African nation as it marks a month of anti-government protests. – …
Read More »ICC halts release of I.Coast’s Gbagbo after new appeal
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | The International Criminal Court on Wednesday halted the release of former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo following a fresh appeal by prosecutors, a day after he was acquitted of crimes against humanity. Judges had earlier ordered Gbagbo and his right-hand man Charles Ble Goude …
Read More »Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab
Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | The Al-Shabaab, meaning “youth” in Arabic, is fighting an armed insurrection in Somalia, which has been mired in chaos since 1991. Here is some background on the Islamist group with links to Al-Qaeda. – Al-Qaeda links – The Shabaab stem from Somalia’s Islamic Courts that …
Read More »Pressure mounts on ICC war crimes court after Gbagbo blow
The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | As prosecutors failed to land the scalp of yet another former national leader accused of crimes against humanity, the question echoed in the hallways of the International Criminal Court: is it fit for purpose? The acquittal on Tuesday of former Ivory Coast president …
Read More »Al Shabaab claim responsibility for new Nairobi attack
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | A huge blast followed by a gun battle rocked an upmarket hotel and office complex in Nairobi on Tuesday, causing casualties, in an attack claimed by the Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab Islamist group. The explosion at the DusitD2 compound, which includes a 101-room hotel, restaurant and several …
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