Washington, United States | AFP | A federal judge in Texas ruled Friday that the US health care law known as Obamacare is unconstitutional — a ruling that opposition Democrats vowed to appeal. US District Judge Reed O’Connor’s ruling came in a lawsuit filed by several Republican state attorneys general and …
Read More »Zimbabwe to release election shooting probe next week
Esigodini, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa said Friday that a report probing deadly election violence when soldiers opened fire on protesters would be released next week. The shootings triggered international outrage and undermined Mnangagwa’s attempts to present the July election as a fresh start for Zimbabwe after …
Read More »Seven-year-old Guatemalan girl dies in US custody: report
Washington, United States | AFP | A seven-year-old Guatemalan girl died in American custody after being detained by US border police in New Mexico, The Washington Post reported on Thursday. The girl who illegally crossed the border from Mexico along with her father and dozens of others died last week …
Read More »Nearly 80% of Kinshasa vote material destroyed in fire: commission
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Nearly 80 percent of the materials for staging the December 23 election in DR Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, were destroyed when an election warehouse was torched overnight, officials said Thursday. The blaze ripped through a large warehouse in central Kinshasa in the early hours of …
Read More »VIDEO: US lashes out at ‘predatory’ China, Russia in Africa
Washington, United States | AFP | The United States lashed out Thursday at “predatory” Chinese and Russian involvement in Africa as it announced a leaner footprint on the continent that insists on accountability in trade and peacekeeping. In a speech billed as unveiling a new US strategy on Africa, national …
Read More »Trump says innocent in legal scandal, blames lawyer
Washington, United States | AFP | Donald Trump tried to shield himself from rising legal heat Thursday with tweets insisting that he never ordered his former lawyer Michael Cohen to break the law. The US president enters his third year in office facing an increasingly perilous situation as federal prosecutors …
Read More »Nearly 80% of Kinshasa vote material destroyed in fire
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Nearly 80 percent of the materials for staging the December 23 election in DR Congo’s capital, Kinshasa, were destroyed when an election warehouse was torched overnight, officials said Thursday. The blaze ripped through a large warehouse in central Kinshasa in the early hours of …
Read More »Nigeria presidential challenger signs peaceful poll pact
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | The main challenger to President Muhammadu Buhari in next year’s presidential poll has signed a deal committing to peaceful elections a day after missing the initial ceremony in the capital. “Earlier today, I appended my signature to the Peace Accord,” Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples …
Read More »Teen killed, election depot torched as DRC campaign heats up
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | A teenager was shot dead in DR Congo’s central Kasai region on Thursday as party faithful gathered to welcome one of the leading opposition candidates vying to replace President Joseph Kabila in the December 23 elections. The bloodshed occurred ahead of a rally by …
Read More »S.Africa’s Zuma must pay mounting legal fees: court
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Former South African president Jacob Zuma must pay back state funds and cover his own costs, a court ruled Thursday, leaving him facing massive legal bills as he fights graft charges. Zuma, who was ousted in February over multiple graft scandals, could be liable …
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