NEWS ANALYSIS

Bujumbura, Burundi | AFRICAN ARGUMENTS |  Two years since Burundi was plunged into violent political crisis, there are two diametrically opposing narratives being told about the current situation. If you listen to the government, the country has recovered from the clashes and mass displacements that engulfed it from 2015. Things are now secure …

  Luanda, Angola | AFRICAN ARGUMENTS |  After 38 years in power, Angola’s José Eduardo dos Santos finally looks set to step down from office. The president has stated his intention to relinquish power before, but as the 23 August elections approach, everything is pointing in the direction of his imminent departure following the polls. …

Washington, United States | AFP | After days of fiery talk of possible military intervention in the North Korea nuclear stand-off, Pentagon officials late last week suddenly found themselves digesting a surprising piece of breaking news. President Donald Trump, in the middle of a working vacation, stood before cameras and said …

Marikana, South Africa | AFP | At the site of the 2012 Marikana massacre where police shot dead 34 strikers, thousands of South African miners sang remembrance songs Wednesday as campaigners demanded prosecutions and compensation. The 34 miners were gunned down after police were deployed to break up a wildcat strike …

Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP | Sierra Leone began a week of mourning Wednesday as it emerged that 105 children were among more than 300 people who perished in mudslides and torrential flooding, in one of the country’s worst natural disasters. With 600 people still missing in Freetown, President Ernest Bai …

Lusaka, Zambia | AFP |  Hakainde Hichilema, who was released from custody after treason charges against him were dropped, is a self-made entrepreneur who has made five unsuccessful attempts to become the Zambian president. He alleges that the 2016 election was rigged and, as leader of the opposition United Party …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s wife was once dismissed as a lightweight shopping addict with no political interests, but Grace Mugabe has recently emerged as a potential challenger for power. Aged 52, the first lady has become increasingly active in public life and in 2014 became the …

Sydney, Australia | AFP | Soaring temperatures driven by climate change are whipping up ever-more intense storms inundating cities with flash floods but leaving the countryside and crucial agricultural land parched, an Australian study has found. Researchers at Australia’s University of New South Wales (UNSW) found that while hotter weather sparked …

Imvepi settlement on the Uganda-South Sudanese border puts UNHCR to the test Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | In the mid-morning of July 30, Col. Lam Paul Gabriel, the deputy Spokesperson of the SPLA-IO, one of the rebel movements wedging war against Salva Kiir’s government in South Sudan, sat under the …

Paris, France | AFP | The attack on a Turkish restaurant in Burkina Faso’s capital on Sunday was the latest in a series of assaults in Africa targeting spots popular with foreigners and locals alike. Here is an overview of the worst such attacks in recent years, most of which have …