Tripoli, Libya | AFP | In Libya, where rival forces are deadlocked south of Tripoli, a months-long battle for the skies between Turkish and UAE drones has failed to break the stalemate, analysts say. Since April 4, when eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive to capture Tripoli — the capital …
Read More »FDC petitions against military deployment in Hoima
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Forum for Democratic Change-FDC party has lodged a complaint against the heavy deployment of military personnel in Hoima district ahead of Thursday’s parliamentary elections. The complaint dated Wednesday, September 25, 2019, was authored by FDC Secretary General Nathan Nandala Mafabi and addressed to the …
Read More »Iran warns any country that attacks will be ‘main battlefield’
Tehran, Iran | AFP | Iran’s Revolutionary Guards commander on Saturday warned any country that attacks the Islamic republic will see its territory become the “main battlefield” as he opened an exhibition of captured drones. Major General Hossein Salami also said Iran was “ready for any type of scenario” following …
Read More »MUSEVENI-KAGAME: What to look out for next
Museveni-Kagame tension, diplomacy; What to look out for next Kampala, Uganda | RONALD MUSOKE | Despite their hyped reconciliation meeting and handshake on Aug.21 in the Angolan capital, Luanda, tense relations between President Yoweri Museveni and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, appear likely to remain unless one of them makes a major …
Read More »Sudan arrests top general, officers over foiled coup
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudan’s military said Wednesday it had arrested a top general and several others over a foiled coup attempt announced earlier this month. It said the plot aimed to re-install the party of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted by the army in April after months …
Read More »Sudan protesters reject army election plan after deadly crackdown
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudan’s protest movement called Tuesday for fresh rallies and rejected the military rulers’ election plan after nearly 40 people were killed in what demonstrators called a “bloody massacre” by security forces. Protest leaders called on their supporters to take part in “total civil disobedience” to topple …
Read More »Sudan opposition leader says Bashir ouster ‘not military coup’
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | A top opposition leader called Saturday for Sudan to join the International Criminal Court which has indicted its ousted president Omar al-Bashir, as protesters and the military met to discuss civilian rule. Sadiq al-Mahdi, a former prime minister and head of the opposition National Umma Party …
Read More »Battle for space more stealth than Star Wars
Colorado Springs, United States | AFP | At tens of thousands of kilometers above the Earth, a Russian satellite slowly approached the French-Italian satellite Athena-Fidus in October 2017, a move France later denounced as “an act of espionage.” What is less widely known is that just a few days before …
Read More »Pentagon authorizes $1 bn for Trump’s border wall
Washington, United States | AFP | Acting Pentagon chief Patrick Shanahan has authorized $1 billion to build part of the wall sought by Donald Trump along the US-Mexico border, the first funds designated for the project under the president’s emergency declaration. The Department of Homeland Security asked the Pentagon to …
Read More »Outcry in Nigeria over election ‘militarisation’ ahead of next ballot
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Rights groups have gone on the offensive over the deployment of the military in Nigerian elections as a new polling day looms. With elections due on Saturday for governors in 29 states and local assemblies, campaigners say the military cast a dark shadow over last month’s …
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