Nyon, Switzerland | AFP | Arsenal, the last surviving British club, on Friday drew seven-time European champion AC Milan in the last 16 of the Europa League. Arsenal struggled to overcome Swedish minnows Ostersunds in the last round, being booed off by their fans at the Emirates after losing 2-1 …
Read More »UN wants prosecutions for South Sudan war crimes
Juba, South Sudan | AFP | A UN rights commission in South Sudan said Friday there was sufficient evidence to charge at least 41 senior officers and officials with war crimes and crimes against humanity. South Sudan’s four-year-old civil war has been characterised by extreme brutality and attacks on civilians. …
Read More »UN Security Council to vote Friday on Syria ceasefire
United Nations, United States | AFP | The UN Security Council will vote Friday on a draft resolution demanding a 30-day ceasefire in Syria to allow for humanitarian aid and medical evacuations. A slightly amended text was circulated to council members late Thursday but it was unclear whether Russia …
Read More »Trump, gun lobby chief push armed citizens as solution to shootings
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump and America’s powerful gun lobby on Thursday cast citizens with weapons as a solution to shootings, as it emerged an armed deputy was on campus during a deadly Florida rampage but failed to act. National Rifle Association chief Wayne LaPierre hit …
Read More »Former S.African soldier sentenced to death in S.Sudan
Juba, South Sudan | AFP | A former South African soldier was sentenced to death in South Sudan on Friday for attempting to overthrow the government. Ex-colonel William Endley, 55, was “sentenced to death by hanging” for espionage and conspiring to overthrow the government, said judge Lado Eriminio Sekwat at …
Read More »Cameroon’s main opposition leader rules out presidential run
Bamenda, Cameroon | AFP | Cameroon’s veteran opposition leader and perennial presidential hopeful John Fru Ndi said Thursday he will not challenge the long-ruling President Paul Biya in this year’s elections. Fru Ndi, 76, hailing from the troubled anglophone west of the country, has lost to Biya three times — …
Read More »Anger in Nigeria over Boko Haram ‘abduction’ response
Dapchi, Nigeria | AFP | Anger erupted in a town in remote northeast Nigeria on Thursday after officials fumbled to account for scores of schoolgirls who locals say have been kidnapped by Boko Haram jihadists — a disappearance reviving traumatic memories of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls. Police said on Wednesday …
Read More »Haiti suspends Oxfam operations pending sex scandal probe
Port-au-Prince, Haiti | AFP | Haiti on Thursday suspended the operations of British charity Oxfam pending the outcome of its investigation into allegations that its staff sexually exploited Haitians after a devastating 2010 earthquake. The country’s ministry of planning and foreign aid said Oxfam GB had made a “serious error” …
Read More »US blasts Russia over strikes on Syria rebel enclave
Washington, United States | AFP | The United States blasted Russia on Thursday over the bombing of Syria’s Eastern Ghouta, saying it has a “unique responsibility” for the more than 400 deaths in the Damascus suburb. After fresh air and rocket strikes by Syrian government forces killed another 46, State …
Read More »No politics, please: DR Congo tycoon Forrest shares secret of success
Lubumbashi, DR Congo | AFP | Rebels have wanted to kill him, NGOs accuse him of exploitation and Chinese newcomers have rattled his Congo mining empire, but George Forrest, one of Africa’s biggest businessmen, remains unbowed. The head of the Forrest Group, which is worth an estimated $800 million (650 …
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