MIDRAND, SOUTH AFRICA: An armed attack Sunday night on Pan African Parliament (PAP) legislators in Midrand, South Africa, has threatened to derail deliberations, with members asking the PAP President Roger Nkodo to put aside the order of business of the day and address the security concerns. The thugs trailed …
Read More »Rapper Akon in Gambia, lights up two African nations
Banjul, Gambia | AFP | Cliched rappers spend money on bling and cars, but Senegalese-American artist Akon is looking skywards to splash his cash, investing in solar power projects across Africa. The rapper added The Gambia and Cape Verde to his Akon Lighting Africa initiative this weekend, a fund …
Read More »President Trump’s new travel ban: key points
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump’s administration issued a revised immigration ban Monday that temporarily freezes US visa issuance to anyone from six mostly-Muslim countries and halts for 120 days all refugee arrivals. Here are the key points: – What’s new in the revised order? – Iraq, …
Read More »Sudan rebels free 125 prisoners after Uganda mediation
Sudan rebels free 125 prisoners captured in fighting Entebbe, Uganda | AFP | Sudanese rebels on Sunday released at least 125 prisoners they had captured in fighting with government forces, most of them soldiers, an AFP journalist said. Their release was secured thanks to mediation from Uganda, while the International …
Read More »British ranch owner killed in Kenya land invasion crisis
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | A British man has been shot dead on his ranch in central Kenya, a local official said Sunday, blaming heavily armed herders responsible for land invasions in the area. Thousands of herders — some armed with spears, others with AK47s — have invaded private ranches …
Read More »South Africa weighs social media measures to fight fake news
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s state security minister said Sunday the government is considering a move to regulate social media in an effort to curb the proliferation of what he described as “false” information. “The false narrative in the social media, it’s one of the challenges that …
Read More »Mugabe back home after medical review in Singapore
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe returned home Sunday from Singapore where he had flown earlier this week for a medical review, his spokesman said. Mugabe returned “this morning”, spokesman George Charamba told AFP. He had travelled to Singapore Wednesday, just days after he celebrated his 93rd …
Read More »UN gives $5mn in aid for crisis-hit region in DR Congo
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The United Nations announced aid worth $5 million (4.7 million euros) on Saturday to help people affected by the humanitarian crisis in the violence-wracked Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The remote, central region has been plagued by violence since mid-August when …
Read More »Gambia’s Barrow allows coup plotters back into army
Banjul, Gambia | AFP | Gambian President Adama Barrow has allowed six soldiers convicted of plotting a coup against former leader Yahya Jammeh back into the armed forces, a military source told AFP Saturday. Jammeh survived several coup attempts in his 22-year rule, with one of the most serious arising …
Read More »Zimbabwe journalists arrested over ‘in bad shape’ Mugabe health report
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Two Zimbabwean journalists were arrested Friday over a newspaper report that described President Robert Mugabe as “in bad shape” when he flew to Singapore for what officials called a scheduled medical check-up. Editor of independent newspaper NewsDay Wisdom Mudzungairi and journalist Richard Chidza were released …
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