Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe was facing an uncertain future Friday after President Robert Mugabe made a defiant public appearance and the army said negotiations with the 93-year-old head of state were continuing. AFP asked Anthoni van Nieuwkerk, a politics professor at Wits University in Johannesburg, to analyse the …
Read More »Zimbabwe: Developments since the military takeover
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Here is a timeline of the developing political crisis in Zimbabwe, where the military has taken control of the country but President Robert Mugabe is clinging to power. – Army takes control – – November 14: Tanks are seen moving on the outskirts of the …
Read More »Three dead as clashes mark Kenyan opposition leader’s return
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Three people were shot dead Friday in Nairobi, an AFP reporter saw, as police dispersed thousands of opposition supporters welcoming home their leader Raila Odinga from an overseas trip. The three men, all with bullet wounds in the upper body, were seen lying on the …
Read More »Odinga’s return ruined by Police with tear gas
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Opposition leader Raila Odinga returned to Kenya on Friday only to have his welcome party in Nairobi broken up by police firing tear gas at his convoy and supporters, an AFP reporter saw. Odinga won an unprecedented court victory overturning the result of the August …
Read More »Calls for anti-Mugabe street protests on Saturday
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | The leader of Zimbabwe’s war veterans association, an influential voice in national politics, on Friday said President Robert Mugabe must step down at once and urged people to protest against the veteran leader. Christopher Mutsvangwa told a press conference the “game was up” for Mugabe …
Read More »US to allow Zimbabwe elephant trophy imports
Washington, United States | AFP | Animal rights groups on Thursday strongly criticized President Donald Trump’s administration for allowing the import of Zimbabwean elephant hunting trophies. The move reverses a prohibition imposed under former president Barack Obama and is the latest rollback of Obama-era controls on a number of fronts. …
Read More »Google, Facebook join news organizations in ‘Trust Project’
Washington, United States | AFP | Google, Facebook and other tech firms joined global news organizations Thursday in an initiative aimed at identifying “trustworthy” news sources, in the latest effort to combat online misinformation. Microsoft and Twitter also agreed to participate in the “Trust Project” with some 75 news organizations to …
Read More »Mugabe makes first public appearance since army takeover
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe attended a university graduation ceremony Friday, making a defiant first public appearance since the military takeover that appeared to signal the end of his 37-year reign. Mugabe, 93, had been confined to house arrest after the military took over the country. …
Read More »Zimbabwe army confirms detentions of Mugabe allies: statement
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe’s military said Friday it had detained some “criminals” in President Robert Mugabe’s government after generals took power in a dispute over who would succeed the 93-year-old leader. “Significant progress has been made in our operation,” the defence forces said in a statement after vowing …
Read More »Mugabe: the last of Africa’s ‘fathers of independence’
Paris, France | AFP | At 93, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe is the last living African head of state to have fought for his country’s independence from a colonial power before becoming its leader. He has used his aura of liberator to stay in power but has increasingly become seen as …
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