Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is within touching distance of South Africa’s top job, previously had his presidential hopes dashed and opted for life in business that brought him spectacular wealth. After failing to clinch the ANC nomination to succeed president Nelson Mandela in 1999, …
Read More »DR Congo child soldiers awarded $10 mn in damages
The Hague, NETHERLANDS | AFP | International war crimes judges on Friday awarded $10 million in landmark reparations to “hundreds or thousands” of former child soldiers left brutalised and stigmatised after being conscripted into a ruthless Congolese militia. Warlord Thomas Lubanga, 56, was jailed for 14 years after being convicted …
Read More »Dutch-Ethiopian man gets life for ‘Red Terror’ war crimes
The Hague, NETHERLANDS | AFP | A Dutch-Ethiopian man was sentenced to life in jail on Friday after Dutch judges found him guilty of war crimes committed during Ethiopia’s bloody purges in the late 1970s, a period known as the “Red Terror”. Eshetu Alemu, 63, was “guilty of war crimes …
Read More »Zimbabwe’s Mnangagwa set to strengthen grip at party meeting
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe’s new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, is expected to use a conference of the ruling ZANU-PF party on Friday to consolidate his grip on power after Robert Mugabe’s shock ouster last month. Mnangagwa took office after the military forced Mugabe to resign, ending a 37-year reign marked …
Read More »Anti-apartheid heroes slam Zuma as ANC elects new chief
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | The African National Congress was lauded for its moral authority in the fight against apartheid in South Africa, but many veterans of that era are deeply disillusioned by the party’s actions today. As delegates prepare to elect a new leader to succeed Jacob Zuma, …
Read More »Libya oasis town offers rare ‘Safe House’ for migrants
Bani Walid, Libya | AFP | For migrants who escape torture and starvation at the hands of people traffickers, a “Safe House” in an oasis town offers a rare commodity in Libya: shelter and medical care. Bani Walid, on the edge of the desert 170 kilometres (110 miles) southeast of …
Read More »African footballers in charity match for Boko Haram displaced
Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s former Arsenal striker Nwankwo Kanu led a team of African all-stars in a charity football match on Thursday, to raise money for people displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency and highlight their plight. Kanu, Senegal’s El-Hadji Diouf, Fabian McCarthy of South Africa and Cyrille …
Read More »UN warns of cost if South Sudan stymies ‘last chance’ peace plan
United Nations, United States | AFP | The UN Security Council warned Thursday of “cost and consequences” for any side in South Sudan that blocks a new regional peace initiative set to open next week in Ethiopia. In a unanimous statement, the council said a high-level forum organized by the …
Read More »Mandela family ‘dismayed’ by funeral corruption claims
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Nelson Mandela’s family has expressed “indignation and dismay” at allegations that officials stole and misspent $22 million intended for the anti-apartheid icon’s memorial events after his death in 2013. The country’s anti-corruption watchdog last week said it had uncovered evidence that millions of dollars …
Read More »Kenyan police accused of rape in election violence: HRW
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenyan security forces raped, beat and assaulted civilians during violence in recent elections, Human Rights Watch said Thursday. “There was widespread sexual violence against women and girls, and sexual attacks on men,” HRW said, in a report titled, “They were men in uniform.” The violence, …
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