Tunis, Tunisia | AFP | Almost a month since the launch of Tunisia’s presidential vote and whittled down from more than 20 candidates, conservative law professor Kais Saied and media magnate Nabil Karoui face off Sunday before the country’s electorate of seven million. The two political newcomers swept aside establishment candidates …
Read More »From Minnesota to Michigan, Trump aims to turn scandal into reelection fuel
Lake Charles, United States | AFP | As impeachment pressure mounted on Donald Trump, the president left Washington for the second day in a row Friday to rally hardcore supporters in a bid to turn the scandal into fuel for his 2020 reelection. Framing himself as the victim of a plot …
Read More »High-stakes conflict threatens DR Congo gorillas
KAHUZI-BIEGA NATIONAL PARK, DR Congo | AFP | Aged almost 17 years, Bonane is an eastern lowland gorilla, a survivor in a critically endangered species reduced to about 250 members in DR Congo’s Kahuzi-Biega National Park. For an hour each day, the gorilla and his dozen-strong family host a handful of …
Read More »Nine-star Belgium book Euro place, Dutch fight back to beat N. Ireland
Paris, France | AFP | Belgium became the first team to qualify for the 2020 European Championship finals as Romelu Lukaku scored twice in a 9-0 thrashing of San Marino in Brussels on Thursday, while the Netherlands needed a late comeback to beat Northern Ireland. Lukaku took his record Belgium international …
Read More »Before Eliud Kipchoge, there was John Akii-Bua
Kampala, Uganda | LOUIS JADWONG & AFP | Kenyan ace Eliud Kipchoge looks set to become the first man to run Marathon’s 42.195 kilometres in under two hours today October 12, 2019 in Vienna. “This is about history,” he said at the pre-race press conference on Friday. “It’s about leaving a …
Read More »Ethiopia and Eritrea: Decades of discord, then detente
Paris, France | AFP | Eritrea and Ethiopia ended decades of tensions in 2018 after a whirlwind peace process for which Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed received the Nobel Peace Prize Friday. Here is a recap of the tensions and reconciliation between the Horn of Africa neighbours. – Eritrea breaks …
Read More »Rough road ahead for Abiy after Nobel triumph
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed faces stark challenges on the very issues that earned him a Nobel Peace Prize on Friday, and analysts say the coming months may tell whether he can translate this early applause into concrete success. The Nobel Committee cited …
Read More »Brexit deal hopes hang on British breakfast with Barnier
Brussels, Belgium | AFP | Britain and Europe’s top Brexit negotiators sit down together Friday to test what British and Irish leaders say might be a “pathway” to a deal. Technical talks on an agreement to govern Britain’s EU divorce are stalled, just days before what had been billed as a …
Read More »In Nairobi, recycling poop is cleaning up the slums
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | “When I started, there was poop in bags everywhere,” said Ricky Ojwang, skillfully navigating a rubbish-strewn canal in Mukuru, a Nairobi slum where he’s worked to improve sanitation since 2012. “People would use bags because there were no toilets, and they would throw them out the …
Read More »Chebet Maikut: Uganda’s Climate Change champion dies at 59
OBITUARY | By By Ronald Musoke | When the 25th UN climate conference opens in Santiago, Chile, this December; the Ugandan delegation will be missing one usual member –Chebet Maikut. He died suddenly on Oct. 02— exactly two months to the next round of climate change talks scheduled for Dec.02-13. …
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