Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The mediator in Burundi’s nearly two-year political crisis on Sunday asked regional leaders to call an urgent summit as deep discord and a government boycott hamper peace talks. Former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa wrapped up four days of talks with some 30 Burundian representatives who …
Read More »Russia seeks ‘post-West’ order as US vows loyalty to allies
Munich, Germany | AFP | Russia Saturday called for an end to what it said was an outdated world order dominated by the West after US Vice President Mike Pence pledged Washington’s “unwavering” commitment to transatlantic allies in NATO. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov offered a diametrically opposed global vision, …
Read More »Intel hub set up in Uganda to fight shadowy rebel group
Kasese, Uganda | AFP | Countries in Africa’s Great Lakes region launched an intelligence nerve centre in Uganda Saturday to better coordinate the fight against a rebel group responsible for massacres in neighbouring DR Congo. A string of bloody killings in which civilians have mostly been hacked to death around …
Read More »Russia calls for ‘post-West’ world order
Munich, Germany | AFP | Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called Saturday for an end to a world order dominated by the West and said Moscow wanted to establish a “pragmatic” relationship with the United States. Lavrov was speaking at the Munich Security Conference shortly after US Vice President Mike …
Read More »Burundi seeks arrest of opposition at Tanzania peace talks
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Burundi’s government on Friday asked Tanzania to arrest several leaders of the main opposition attending peace talks in Arusha in a bid to resolve a nearly two-year political crisis. The talks are the latest effort by former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa to mediate the crisis …
Read More »Palestinians say US shift on two-state solution ‘doesn’t make sense’
Ramallah, Palestinian Territories | AFP | US President Donald Trump’s break with decades of support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is irresponsible and does not advance peace, a senior Palestinian said on Wednesday. “This does not make sense,” Palestine Liberation Organisation executive committee member Hanan Ashrawi told …
Read More »Burundi govt again refuses crisis talks with opposition
Mediator Benjamin Mkapa and Burundi’s foreign minister Nyamwite at previous talks.Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Burundi’s government affirmed Tuesday it will shun peace talks with opposition figures planned for later this week in Tanzania, dragging out a political crisis that has stretched for over a year. The talks are intended …
Read More »Netanyahu to test Trump policy at Washington talks
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who warmly welcomed Donald Trump’s election as US president, will visit the White House Wednesday to test his supportive campaign pledges against emerging policy. Since taking office, Trump has edged away from unqualified backing for Netanyahu’s drive for more Jewish …
Read More »Trump backs ‘One China’ policy in first call with Xi
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump reaffirmed Washington’s ‘One China’ policy on Thursday in his first conversation with Xi Jinping, an apparent effort to ease tensions after angering Beijing by questioning a major plank of Sino-US relations. During a phone call with China’s leader, the US president …
Read More »Sudan president accuses Egypt of backing opponents
Dubai, United Arab Emirates | AFP | Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir accused the Egyptian government of harbouring and backing Sudanese opposition figures fighting his troops, in remarks broadcast on Sunday. In his first such accusation against Cairo, Bashir said in an interview broadcast by Al-Arabiya that Sudanese opposition figures were …
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