Like many of these corruption stories, this doesn’t really surprise me in the least. Usually the person who is being tried, in this case Zuma, usually turns out to have done it but is trying to play the “I didn’t do this” and “this is a political agenda” to the very end. I will admit that these politics are especially… Read more »
www.france24.com French and Malian troops killed about 30 Islamist insurgents during a gunbattle in a region near the border with Niger, where Islamic State are known to be active, the French army said on Thursday. West Africa’s arid Sahel region has seen a rise in violence by militant groups, some with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State, that is… Read more »
www.france24.com South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma is due to appear in court in Durban on Friday to face corruption charges linked to a multi-billion dollar 1990s arms deal that dogged his time in government. Zuma’s supporters are expected to rally at the city’s High Court to protest his prosecution which was announced just four weeks after he resigned under… Read more »
www.france24.com Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari will seek another term in elections in February 2019, his office said on Monday, ending months of speculation about his plans after bouts of ill health. The 75-year-old spent much of last year in Britain being treated for an undisclosed ailment, triggering accusations by opposition groups and other critics that he was unfit for office… Read more »
news.mongabay.com Research published yesterday in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution finds that pressures from human activities and climate change caused the African continent to lose as much as 2.6 billion metric tons of carbon between 2010 and 2016. The study not only shows that there was an overall net carbon loss across sub-Saharan Africa, but also that substantial losses… Read more »
www.cnn.com Ethiopia’s new prime minister, Abiye Ahmed, was sworn in by parliament Monday. The country’s ruling coalition appointed Ahmed the new leader after weeks of uncertainty and protest. He succeeds former Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, who unexpectedly resigned February 15. Hailemariam took power in 2012 and was chairman of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), which has ruled since… Read more »
www.cnn.com Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday he was suspending a plan to send thousands of migrants to three Western countries, putting the brakes on a decision he had announced only hours earlier. Netanyahu said on his Facebook page that the deal would be re-examined. He had come under heavy criticism for the agreement by members of his coalition… Read more »
www.cnn.com Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi on Monday secured a second term in office after winning 97% of the vote.In a widely expected result, Sisi, who ran against just one other candidate, won more than 21 million votes, according to Egypt’s National Election Authority. There was 41% turnout of almost 60 million registered voters. Sisi’s only rival for the presidency… Read more »
www.cnn.com China raised eyebrows this month by announcing it will give the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) a $31.6 million grant to build a new headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria.Accepting the grant, the president of ECOWAS, Jean-Claude Brou, thanked China and confirmed the organization’s commitment to promoting future ECOWAS-China cooperation. A press release said that Brou called this a mark of… Read more »
www.nytimes.com But they had a falling out over the direction of newly independent Kenya — especially over land and power — and became bitter adversaries. Now their sons are fighting a modern adaptation of the same battle as they vie to lead the country, pushing one of Africa’s youngest and most vibrant democracies to the brink of a constitutional crisis…. Read more »