Islamabad, Pakistan | AFP | Pakistan’s parliament will meet on Tuesday to elect a new prime minister after the Supreme Court disqualified Nawaz Sharif following an investigation into corruption allegations against his family. The ruling party named Sharif’s younger brother Shahbaz as his successor over the weekend, but he must first …
Read More »Turkey defends plan to allow religious marriages amid controversy
Istanbul, Turkey | AFP | The Turkish government on Sunday strongly defended a plan to let state-approved clerics conduct marriage ceremonies, rejecting fierce criticism that this would undermine the modern republic’s secular foundations. Turkey is mainly Muslim but officially is a secular state. Under its current laws, even religiously observant couples …
Read More »Nigerian military ordered to boost response to Boko Haram
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s military has been ordered to strengthen its response to Boko Haram after 69 people were killed in an ambush earlier this week, the government said on Sunday. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo held emergency talks with top brass to discuss Tuesday’s attack, which targeted an oil exploration …
Read More »93-year-old Mugabe says ‘not dying’ as health concerns mount
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe’s 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe, declaring “I am not dying,” sought Saturday to brush aside growing concerns about his health after his wife urged him to name a successor. Mugabe’s medical trips to Singapore have become frequent in recent years, fuelling questions about his health. His …
Read More »Two dead as Kenyan police end siege at home of deputy president
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Elite Kenyan security forces on Sunday killed a man at the home of Deputy President William Ruto, ending a 20-hour siege that left one officer dead and another wounded, security officials said. Ruto and his family were not at the vast property in the northwest of …
Read More »S.Africa’s Malema compares Zambia leader to apartheid rulers
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s firebrand opposition leader Julius Malema on Saturday accused Zambia’s president of apartheid style repression for detaining a leading opposition politician on treason charges. Hakainde Hichilema, leader of Zambia’s United Party for National Development (UPND), has been in detention since April and Zambian …
Read More »UPDATE: Kenya deputy president Ruto’s home attacked
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | At least one assailant stormed into the home of Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto on Saturday and injured a policeman, less than two weeks before the country votes in high-stakes polls, the police and security sources said. Ruto was not present during the attack, the …
Read More »Pakistan’s ex-PM Sharif names brother Shahbaz as successor
Islamabad, Pakistan | AFP | Pakistan’s ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif named his brother Shahbaz, the chief minister of Punjab province, as his successor and nominated ex-oil minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi as an interim premier in a defiant speech Saturday. “I support Shahbaz Sharif after me but he will take …
Read More »Unknown gunmen attack home of Kenya deputy president Ruto
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Unknown gunmen attacked the home of Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto on Saturday seriously injuring a policeman, less than two weeks before the country votes in high-stakes polls, two security sources told AFP. Ruto was not home during the attack. An officer from the elite police …
Read More »McCain’s moment: a ‘no’ on health care
Washington, United States | AFP | In a long career as a maverick Republican, it may have been John McCain’s defining moment. Donald Trump and his Republicans had rejoiced when the cancer-stricken senator returned to Washington this week to vote on health care. But the feisty elder statesman and long-time …
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