Banjul, Gambia | AFP | Longtime Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh, who initially conceded defeat in a December 1 presidential poll, has lodged a Supreme Court case to challenge the result, despite pressure from the international community for him to cede power peacefully. The opposition in the small West African country, …
Read More »UN cancels Gambia army chief’s Darfur visit
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The UN has stopped The Gambia’s controversial army chief from visiting troops serving as peacekeepers in Darfur, as international pressure grows on the country’s top brass to accept incoming president-elect Adama Barrow. Gambian security forces seized the country’s Independent Electoral Commission on Tuesday, drawing international …
Read More »REVIEW 2016: Post-imperial strongman duo Putin, Erdogan rile West with renewed alliance
Istanbul, Turkey | AFP | It had seemed impossible to find insults more scathing. Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan of trading oil with Islamic State jihadists and making modern Turkey’s founder Ataturk “roll in his grave”. In a loud slanging match between two masters of …
Read More »Exhumed bodies reveal South Africa’s deep apartheid wounds
Pretoria, South Africa | AFP | After 52 years, Mncedisi Tyopo finally stood beside his father’s grave, looking down at remains being exhumed as part of South Africa’s attempts to come to terms with its painful past. Tyopo’s father Bhonase Vulindlela was an anti-apartheid fighter who was hanged along with …
Read More »Facebook lets users click to report fake news
Washington, United States | AFP | Facebook announced Thursday it was offering a tool allowing users to report fake news, a move aimed at stemming a wave of misinformation which some claim influenced the 2016 US election. “We believe in giving people a voice and that we cannot become arbiters …
Read More »There was no hack, says Trump and Putin
Trump rejects Russia hacking plot as Putin direct role reported Washington, United States | AFP | US President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday again rejected the CIA’s conclusion that Russia manipulated the US election, as the hacking scandal expanded into a hefty foreign policy challenge just five weeks before he takes …
Read More »Family of DR Congo leader Kabila built fortune
Paris, France | AFP | President Joseph Kabila and his family in the Democratic Republic of Congo have created a personal economic empire worth hundreds of millions of dollars, the Bloomberg News agency reported Thursday. “Together the Kabilas have built a network of businesses that reaches into every corner of …
Read More »DR Congo orders social networks blocked as Kabila’s term expires
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have ordered that social networks including Facebook and WhatsApp be blocked soon before President Joseph Kabila’s mandate expires, three internet providers said Thursday. Congo’s telecoms regulator issued an order, seen by AFP, demanding that providers cut access …
Read More »Kiir calls for ‘national dialogue’ to end South Sudan war
Juba, South Sudan | AFP | President Salva Kiir called Wednesday for a “national dialogue” to end the three-year-long civil war in South Sudan. In a speech to parliament, Kiir, whose wrangling for power with his former deputy Riek Machar plunged the world’s newest nation into a brutal, destructive and …
Read More »Trump meets with tech execs, including his critics
New York, United States | AFP | US President-elect Donald Trump sat down Wednesday with top tech executives — including several of his sharpest critics — to mend fences after a divisive election in which the majority of Silicon Valley backed Hillary Clinton. The afternoon summit at Trump Tower comes …
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