Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe’s sacked vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, said Wednesday he had fled the country, as he issued a direct challenge to long-ruling President Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace. The ruling ZANU-PF party “is not personal property for you and your wife to do as you please,” …
Read More »Activists block roads, trains in Catalonia strike
Barcelona, Spain | AFP | Protesters blocked roads, highways and train tracks in Catalonia on Wednesday as part of a region-wide strike called by a pro-independence union. According to the Catalan Transit Service, people blocked roads in more than 50 places in the region, including major motorways like the AP-7 …
Read More »LIVE: 2017 ACME lecture – Media and Politics in Africa
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Dr Willy Mutunga, the former Chief Justice of Kenya, has delivered the 4th ACME Annual Lecture. Theme is Media and Independence of the Judiciary. Mutunga is a lawyer, intellectual, reform activist, and has been the Commonwealth Special Envoy to the Maldives. According to the lecture organisers …
Read More »Liberian parties eye anti-Weah front: ruling party chairman
Monrovia, Liberia | AFP | Four parties on Tuesday discussed a “merger” to bolster Vice President Joseph Boakai in his fight against former international football star George Weah for Liberia’s presidency, a senior party official said. The talks took place on the day that a runoff vote between the two men, …
Read More »Opposition march again in Togo over political reform
Lome, Togo | AFP | Thousands of people took to the streets in Togo’s capital on Tuesday in the latest protest calling for the long-standing President Faure Gnassingbe to step down. The demonstration is the first of three planned marches this week and comes after more than two months of nearly …
Read More »Tanzanian police raid opposition party offices
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Tanzanian police carried out a raid Tuesday night on the headquarters of an opposition party which recently criticised the state of the economy under President John Magufuli. “The police have just ended a raid on the headquarters of the Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT) Wazalendo,” …
Read More »Mugabe deputy had ‘designs to seize power’: state media
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwean Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa was plotting to seize power, state media said Tuesday, the day after President Robert Mugabe sacked him in a bitter power struggle. Mnangagwa was the leading contender to succeed Mugabe, 93, but his abrupt removal appeared to clear the way for …
Read More »Egypt’s Sisi rules out extending presidential term
Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ruled out a constitutional amendment to extend his term, saying an election would be held next year and he will not run again in 2022, in an interview with CNBC Monday. Sisi is a former army chief who overthrew his Islamist …
Read More »‘Election was designed to be rigged’: Liberian vice-president
Monrovia, Liberia | AFP | Liberia’s Vice-President has quietly occupied the executive backseat for 12 years, but in light of electoral fraud he believes snatched away his chance at the presidency, Joseph Boakai is unleashing himself. Known as Sleepy Joe for his propensity to fall asleep at public events, the second-in-command …
Read More »Who’s great again? Trump faces ‘king of China’ Xi
Beijing, China | AFP | Xi Jinping and Donald Trump have one thing in common — they both want to make their nations great again. But while China’s leader is on the rise, the US president arrives in Beijing laden down with heavy baggage. Xi will roll out the red …
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