April 18 5.00am Uganda time Brazil lawmakers give green light to Rousseff impeachment trial Brasília, Brazil | AFP | Brazilian lawmakers on Sunday authorized impeachment proceedings against President Dilma Rousseff in a rowdy, circus-like showdown that plunged Latin America’s biggest country into profound political crisis. Opposition deputies in the lower …
Read More »US transfers nine Yemenis from Guantanamo to Saudi Arabia
Washington, United States | AFP | Nine Yemeni inmates have been transferred from Guantanamo Bay to Saudi Arabia, the Pentagon said on Saturday, bringing the controversial military prison’s remaining population down to 80. It is the largest transfer from the facility since 10 Yemenis were sent to Oman in January …
Read More »We are all migrants, Pope says as he takes 12 refugees to Vatican
Lesbos, Greece | AFP | Declaring “we are all migrants,” Pope Francis on Saturday brought a message of hope to thousands of people facing expulsion from Greece as he slammed the world community for failing to end the wars fueling the crisis. In an emotional visit that saw people kneeling …
Read More »US Army approves first females for ground combat
Washington, United States | AFP | The US Army is commissioning 22 women as infantry and armor officers under historic new rules allowing females to serve in ground combat roles, USA Today reported Friday. Defense Secretary Ash Carter in December announced a sweeping directive to open all military occupations to …
Read More »Mali and EU agree on African immigration programme
Bamako, Mali | AFP Mali and the European Union agreed Friday to combat immigration into Europe by financing projects to fight its causes and promote legal migration, according to a joint statement released on Friday. Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders, whose country currently holds the rotating EU presidency, began a …
Read More »Blatter ‘available to defend FIFA’ at US corruption trial
Basel, Switzerland | AFP Former FIFA president Sepp Blatter told AFP Friday he “is available” to appear as a witness at a United States trial into mass corruption in world football. “Yes. When they need me to defend FIFA, I will be available,” Blatter said, when asked if he would …
Read More »Putin admits Panama Papers ‘accurate,’ blames US
Moscow, Russia | AFP Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday acknowledged the accuracy of the Panama Papers revelations, but claimed funds had been spent on musical instruments as he blamed the leak on the United States. The Papers revealed that Putin’s associates, notably cellist Sergei Roldugin, “secretly shuffled as much …
Read More »Mukazayire: Being a child of a Genocide Perpetrator, I am a living testimony of the new Rwanda
Remarks by Nelly Mukazayire, Deputy Director of the Cabinet in the Office of the President, at the 22nd Commemoration of the Genocide Against the Tutsi at the UN 12 April 2016 Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General, Excellency Mr. Mogens Lykketoft, President of the United Nations General Assembly, Excellency …
Read More »Cameroon hospital chief sacked over death of pregnant woman
Douala, Cameroon | AFP | The director of a public hospital in Cameroon’s economic capital Douala was sacked Tuesday after the death of a woman pregnant with twins sparked protests and heated political debate. Under a ministerial decree, Jean II Dissongo was removed from his post at the Laquintinie Hospital …
Read More »Brazil’s impeachment: a how to guide
Brasília, Brazil | AFP Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff risks being driven from office if the lower house votes in favor of an impeachment trial following Monday’s vote in a special committee. These are the main stages in the crisis, which comes on top of a deep recession in Latin America’s …
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