Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa has taken over as Zimbabwe’s new leader, ending strongman Robert Mugabe’s 37-year reign and the country’s worst political crisis since independence. Here is a snapshot of two weeks of turmoil, from a military takeover to mass street protests and an …
Read More »Sisi vows to respond with brutal force after 235 killed in Egypt mosque attack
Attack on mosque in Egypt’s Sinai kills at least 235 Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Armed attackers on Friday killed at least 235 worshippers in a bomb and gun assault on a packed mosque in Egypt’s restive North Sinai province, in the country’s deadliest attack in recent memory. A bomb …
Read More »Sorrow, admiration in Mugabe’s birthplace
Zimbabwe | AFP | Local residents in the rural Zimbabwean village where Robert Mugabe was born, got married, and has a house say he was a great leader — but express sorrowful acceptance rather than anger at his ousting. Kutama, 55 miles (90 kilometres) outside the capital Harare, has been …
Read More »S. African court doubles Pistorius sentence to more than 13 years
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | A South African appeals court increased Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius’ sentence for murdering his girlfriend to 13 years and five months on Friday, marking a victory for prosecutors in a case that shocked the world. The Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein more than …
Read More »Mnangagwa sworn in as Zimbabwe president
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Emmerson Mnangagwa was sworn in as Zimbabwe’s president on Friday, marking the final chapter of a political drama that toppled his predecessor Robert Mugabe after a military takeover. Mnangagwa, until recently one of Mugabe’s closest allies, took the oath of office at the national sports stadium …
Read More »500 trafficking victims rescued in west Africa: Interpol
Cotonou, Benin | AFP | Forty people are facing prosecution after police raids in west and central Africa rescued nearly 500 victims of human trafficking, Interpol said on Thursday. Raids were carried out in Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal as part of a German foreign ministry funded initiative targeting …
Read More »Liverpool star Salah backs Egypt women’s rights campaign
Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has thrown his support behind a UN-sponsored campaign to end violence against women in his homeland Egypt where sexual harassment is rampant. Hundreds of thousands of people viewed an animated video teaching men to respect women and their rights after national team …
Read More »In Russia, Sudan’s Bashir asks Putin for ‘protection’ from US
Sochi, Russia | AFP | Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide and war crimes, on Thursday asked Russia’s Vladimir Putin to protect his country from the United States. Speaking during his first visit to Russia as president, Bashir also said he wanted …
Read More »Mnangagwa to be sworn in as Zimbabwe president
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Mnangagwa was set to be sworn in as president on today, marking the final chapter of a political drama that toppled his predecessor Robert Mugabe after a military takeover. Mnangagwa, until recently one of Mugabe’s closest allies, will take the oath of office …
Read More »A ray of hope for Zimbabwe’s ruined economy?
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Every time Chareka Mutungwazi, 76, tries to collect his pension money, he spends the night, like scores of others, sleeping outside a bank in Harare, the Zimbabwean capital. He is lucky if he is allowed to take out just $20 of his monthly $63 (53 …
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