Bangui, Central African Republic | AFP | Catholic bishops in the Central African Republic have appealed to armed groups controlling swathes of the chronically unstable country to stop looting and lay down their arms. Mired in poverty but rich in minerals, the former French colony has been battered by a conflict …
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Tripoli, Libya | AFP | Fierce fighting forced the closure of the Libyan capital’s only civilian airport on Monday, officials said, after a militia in charge of security there said it had been attacked. The Facebook page of Mitiga International Airport, in eastern Tripoli, said “flights have been suspended because of …
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Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Islamist militants Boko Haram on Monday released a new video purporting to show at least 14 of the Chibok schoolgirls whose mass kidnapping nearly four years ago became a symbol of NIgeria’s brutal conflict. But despite a concerted global campaign for their release, and talks between …
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Three DR Congo soldiers killed fighting Ugandan rebels Beni, DR Congo | AFP | Three Democratic Republic of Congo soldiers died on Monday while repelling an attack in the eastern Beni region by ADF Ugandan Islamist rebels, who are suspected of murdering 14 UN peacekeepers last month. The army had …
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Dar es Salaam, Tanzanai | XINHUA | Tanzania and Rwanda on Sunday agreed to construct a 400-kilometer standard gauge railway line from Isaka to Kigali in efforts to connect Rwanda, the landlocked east African country, to the Dar es Salaam port. Tanzanian President John Magufuli told a news conference in …
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African migrants in face a tough choice as mass deportation looms Kampala, Uganda | AGENCIES | In the next three months, Israel intends to force thousands of African asylum seekers out of the country. Their choice: An airline ticket and temporary financial assistance, or prison. Tania Krämer reports from Tel Aviv. …
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Monrovia, Liberia | AFP | Liberia’s ruling party said Sunday it had expelled outgoing President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf for not backing her vice-president, Joseph Boakai, in a presidential election run-off lost to former footballer George Weah. Sirleaf, 79, will formally hand over power to Weah on January 22 after serving …
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Luanda, Angola | AFP | The first major scalp claimed by Angola’s new president Joao Lourenco in his war on corruption and nepotism was that of his predecessor’s daughter, who was sacked as head of the state oil company. The next big name linked to former president Jose Eduardo dos …
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Ziguinchor, Senegal | AFP | Senegalese police said Sunday they have arrested 22 people suspected of involvement in a January 6 massacre of 14 young men in the troubled region of Casamance. The arrests were the first in connection with the killings in a region separated from the rest of Senegal …
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THE LAST WORD: Why the tendency of African intellectuals to blame leaders for the failures of our nations is escapism THE LAST WORD | Andrew M. Mwenda | I recently had a Twitter debate with Prof. George Ayittey; the Ghanaian author of `Africa Unchained: the blueprint for development’ (Palgrave/MacMillan, 2004) …
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The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price