NEWS ANALYSIS

Beijing, China | AFP | Chinese billionaires are boasting about their Marxist bonafides. The Communist Party is tightening its grip on state-owned companies. And foreign companies are being asked to invite party cells into their offices. Under President Xi Jinping, the country’s ruling party is muscling back into business, expanding …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  Kenya’s repeated presidential election, held after an August 8 vote was annulled, has still not been completed after violence prevented voting Thursday in flashpoint opposition strongholds. Some tricky legal questions remain: – When will the result be announced? – It is impossible to say at …

Trump’s strategy and 5 factors around Mogadishu killing of 300 Kampala, Uganda | HAGGAI MATSIKO, IAN KATUSIIME, JULIUS BUSINGE | October 20| Hundreds of dead were burnt beyond recognition. One mother lost all her nine children. Wives, husbands, children and whole families perished in the Oct.14 bomb attack in Somalia capital, …

Beijing, China | AFP |  As Chinese leader Xi Jinping delivered his three-plus-hour speech at the Communist Party congress, delegates ranging from men in suits to military officers and former presidents dutifully turned every page as they read and listened to his words. On the internet, government bureaus peppered social …

Beijing, China | AFP |  President Xi Jinping declared China has embarked on a “new era” of challenges and opportunities on Wednesday as he opened a Communist Party congress expected to enhance his already formidable power. Xi told some 2,300 delegates at the imposing Great Hall of the People that …

Paris, France | AFP | A massive truck bomb in the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Saturday killed at least 276 people and left 300 injured. Following are five questions about the attack, the bloodiest in the country’s long history of violence and instability. – What was the target? – The …

Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli police faced off in a rare public dispute Sunday over an intensifying graft probe that has led to speculation over whether he will eventually be forced from office. Netanyahu late Saturday lashed out at the police on his Facebook …

Caracas, Venezuela | AFP | Venezuelans headed to the polls Sunday in regional elections seen as a crucial test for President Nicolas Maduro and the opposition alike after months of deadly street protests failed to unseat him. Public opinion surveys predicted that the opposition would win a majority of state …

Washington, United States | AFP | Brick by brick, the demolition job has begun: since taking office less than a year ago, Donald Trump has launched an all-out assault on the legacy of Barack Obama. Climate, free trade, health care, immigration, foreign policy — the 45th US president has set …

Monrovia, Liberia | AFP |  President Ellen Sirleaf’s vice president since 2005, Joseph Boakai has campaigned as a natural transition candidate after helping to ensure peace has prevailed in Liberia since back-to-back civil wars. Boakai will face former footballer George Weah in a runoff for the presidency on November 7, …