Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South African President Jacob Zuma on Saturday blamed infighting and perceived corruption for the troubles of the ANC party, which risks losing power for the first time since the end of apartheid. Zuma, whose reign has been marred by graft scandals, spoke at a party …
Read More »Anti-graft protesters throng Israel’s Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv, Israel | AFP | Thousands of Israelis marched on Saturday night for the third week running in central Tel Aviv to demand legal action against “corrupt” people in the government and their resignation. The demonstration comes a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was questioned for the seventh time …
Read More »ECOWAS threatens Guinea-Bissau sanctions as crisis drags
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | West African leaders on Saturday threatened to slap Guinea-Bissau with sanctions unless the country’s grinding political crisis was resolved within two months. In a summit in Nigeria, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said it was “disappointed with the absence of progress in …
Read More »Uganda MPs’ proposal show of moral corruption
Our MPs’ move to extend their term of office is not only a sign of selfishness but also moral corruption. The Ugandan MPs are treating us like Russia’s Stalin who inflicted unimaginable pain on a hen, that walked back to him expecting grain. COMMENT | Allawi Ssemanda | It is sickening. …
Read More »S.Africa’s ANC elects new chief – who else is in the race?
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Seven candidates are battling to succeed President Jacob Zuma as the leader of the African National Congress at the party’s conference starting Saturday. Vice President Cyril Ramaphosa and ex-African Union chief Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma are the frontrunners in a divisive race. Here are portraits of five …
Read More »Cyril Ramaphosa: tycoon, negotiator… and S.Africa’s next leader?
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, who is within touching distance of South Africa’s top job, previously had his presidential hopes dashed and opted for life in business that brought him spectacular wealth. After failing to clinch the ANC nomination to succeed president Nelson Mandela in 1999, …
Read More »Trump criticizes FBI and says no pardon for Flynn ‘yet’
Washington, UNITED STATES | AFP | US President Donald Trump on Friday lashed out at the FBI inquiry into possible collusion between Moscow and his campaign, and refused to rule out pardoning former aide Michael Flynn, who pleaded guilty to lying about his contacts with Russia. Trump said it was …
Read More »Trump: Russia not helping on North Korea
Washington, UNITED STATES | AFP | US President Donald Trump criticized Russia Friday for not doing enough to pressure North Korea to halt its nuclear weapons program. “China is helping, Russia is not helping. We would like to have Russia’s help,” he told reporters outside the White House. Trump said …
Read More »Putin’s ex-minister gets eight years over $2 mn bribe
Moscow, RUSSIAN FEDERATION | AFP | A Russian court on Friday sentenced former economy minister Alexei Ulyukayev to eight years in a penal colony on charges of taking a $2 million bribe from an ally of President Vladimir Putin. Ulyukayev is the highest-ranking official arrested in Putin’s 18 years in …
Read More »Zimbabwe’s Mnangagwa set to strengthen grip at party meeting
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe’s new president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, is expected to use a conference of the ruling ZANU-PF party on Friday to consolidate his grip on power after Robert Mugabe’s shock ouster last month. Mnangagwa took office after the military forced Mugabe to resign, ending a 37-year reign marked …
Read More »