Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenya’s election commission announced Tuesday that there would be five million new voters taking part in August polls, raising the stakes for incumbent Uhuru Kenyatta and his longtime rival Raila Odinga. After the first-ever audit of the voter’s register — often seen as a key …
Read More »VIDEO: EC says Bobi Wine was in ‘wrong place’
The Electoral Commission has clarified on the standoff Tuesday between Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine and Uganda Police that led to his temporary arrest, saying he was campaigning in a non-designated area. Bobi Wine was taken to Kira Police after they stopped his rally in Kasangati, that was supposed to …
Read More »LIVE: Botswana’s Masire lying in state today
Gaborone, Botswana | AFP | The body of Sir Ketumile Masire, Botswana’s second post-independence leader who passed away aged 91 on Thursday, is lying in state at the country’s parliament in Gabarone today. It will give ordinary Batswana a chance to pay their last respects to their former leader, ahead …
Read More »Brazil’s Temer: 5 key chapters in a troubled reign
Brasília, Brazil | AFP | Brazilian president Michel Temer rode to power last year by helping get his ex-ally Dilma Rousseff impeached, but now he could be forced from office himself. Here are five key chapters from a tumultuous 14 months culminating with Monday’s filing of bribery charges against him …
Read More »Bromance as Trump and Modi hail friendship at first talks
Washington, United States | AFP | US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi embraced each other as friends and partners Monday, pledging their quest for economic growth would strengthen rather than undermine ties between the world’s two largest democracies. While Trump’s relations with some traditional allies had …
Read More »Trump claims victory as court partially reinstates travel ban
Washington, United States | AFP | The US Supreme Court on Monday partially reinstated Donald Trump’s controversial travel ban targeting citizens from six predominantly Muslim countries, prompting the president to claim a victory for national security. The court said it would examine the case in full in October but said …
Read More »Nigeria’s ill president sends recorded greetings from London
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari has marked the end of Ramadan with an audio broadcast to the nation, the presidency said, his first public statement since going on medical leave in early May. The recording attributed to the president features a tired-sounding and hesitant voice, …
Read More »THE LAST WORD: Inside Rwanda’s politics of unity
THE LAST WORD: Why other political parties in Rwanda have endorsed the candidacy of Paul Kagame The Last Word | ANDREW M. MWENDA| The government of Rwanda has been working with a concept called “Ndi’omunyarwanda” i.e. I am a Munyarwanda. It seeks to facilitate people to see themselves as Rwandans, not …
Read More »After string of defeats, Democrats rudderless in Trump era
Washington, UNITED STATES | AFP | Frozen out of power in Washington and having lost a string of congressional races this year, Democrats are struggling to craft winning strategies to convert disillusionment with President Donald Trump into victory in 2018’s midterm elections. The party fielded a hodgepodge of candidates …
Read More »UK Labour leader Corbyn will ‘try to force early election’
London, United Kingdom | AFP | British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn has vowed to “try to force an early general election” after Prime Minster Theresa May lost her parliamentary majority, in an interview published Saturday. Corbyn’s Labour Party outperformed expectations in this month’s election, turning what was predicted to be …
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