Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Leaders of countries in the Lake Chad region met on Saturday in Nigeria to give fresh impetus to their fight against Boko Haram, the Nigerian presidency said. The summit meeting, grouping Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Niger, Benin and the Central African Republic, is a follow-up to …
Read More »Hundreds march in Sierra Leone against sexual violence
Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP | Hundreds of people demonstrated in Freetown on Saturday against sexual violence against women, days after the Sierra Leone government promised a crackdown on rape and sexual abuse. Among the estimated 300 to 400 demonstrators was the country’s first lady, Fatima Bio, who on Friday …
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 »UN Peacekeeping chief honours Tanzanian troops in Zanzibar
Zanzibar, Tanzania | UN | A year on from the brutal killings of 15 United Nations peacekeepers from Tanzania in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the head of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) paid a visit to some of the victims’ families on Friday, to honour the memory of the soldiers …
Read More »Preparing Africa for ravages of climate change ‘cannot be an afterthought’ – COP24
Katowice, Poland | UN | Africa is at a “tipping point” as global warming increases, and urgent action needs to be taken across the continent now, to mitigate risks and safeguard a decade of social and economic gains, according to a new report launched on Thursday by the United Nations Development …
Read More »UN investigates systematic sexual violence across South Sudan
Juba, South Sudan | UN | Widespread and systematic sexual violence across South Sudan, just a few months after the country’s top two politicians signed a renewed commitment to peace, was at the top of the UN Commission on Human Rights in the country’s agenda on Friday, as members ended …
Read More »Nigerian military lifts ban on UNICEF in restive northeast
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | The Nigerian military lifted a ban on UNICEF operations in the ravaged northeast late Friday after earlier suspending the aid agency and accusing it of training “spies” supporting Boko Haram jihadists. The military earlier Friday said the United Nations children’s agency had this week held …
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 »21 killed in ethnic violence in Ethiopia
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | At least 21 people have been killed in two days of fighting between ethnic groups in southern Ethiopia, the state-affiliated Fana radio reported Friday, The violence broke out near the town of Moyale, on the border with Kenya, in a region claimed by both …
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