Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Several months of protests in Zimbabwe over shortages of basic goods, inflation and the depreciation of the local currency have escalated into riots after the government doubled the price of fuel. In power since the fall of Robert Mugabe in November 2017, President Emmerson Mnangagwa …
Read More »Ex Trump lawyer Cohen says paid man to rig online polls
New York, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen admitted Thursday that he paid a man in 2015 to rig online opinion polls to favor Trump as he began running for the presidency. Cohen confirmed a Wall Street Journal report that in early 2015 he …
Read More »10 years after Obama, race still agitating US politics
Washington, United States | AFP | Barack Obama’s trailblazing presidency, a first for an African-American, began 10 years ago Sunday, a historic moment that some believed ushered in a post-racial America. But given the racial politics amplified in the era of successor Donald Trump, the hope and change of 2009 …
Read More »Sudan: nearly three decades under Bashir
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Here are key dates in Sudan since Omar al-Bashir came to power almost three decades ago. – 1989: coup – In June 1989 army brigadier Bashir seizes power in a coup backed by Islamist ideologue Hassan al-Turabi. Sudan then hosts radical Islamists, including Al-Qaeda chief …
Read More »UK PM May reaches out to rivals after winning confidence vote
London, United Kingdom | AFP | British Prime Minister Theresa May reached out to her opponents on Wednesday after narrowly surviving a confidence vote sparked by the crushing defeat in parliament of her Brexit deal. After a tumultuous 24 hours which she admitted voters might find “unsettling”, she conceded the …
Read More »Brexit in dates: From Leave shock to parliament’s historic vote
London, United Kingdom | AFP | From the shock Brexit referendum result to Tuesday’s landmark vote to reject the divorce deal struck between London and the European Union, here are the milestones on Britain’s rocky road out of the bloc after 46 years. – Britons vote to leave – In …
Read More »‘God knows’: Brexit vote leaves Irish border in limbo
Dundalk, Ireland | AFP | In the town of Dundalk near the Irish border, locals reacted with exasperation and concern at news that the British parliament had rejected a Brexit deal with the EU. “God knows what will happen,” said barman Gavin McCann, pulling pints at The Vinegar Man …
Read More »What next for Brexit? Three main scenarios
London, United Kingdom | AFP | What next? After British MPs rejected Prime Minister Theresa May’s Brexit deal on Tuesday, triggering a no-confidence vote in the government, that is the question on everyone’s lips. Here are the three main scenarios facing Britain while the clock ticks down to March 29, …
Read More »Macron’s ‘Great Debate’: How will it work?
Paris, France | AFP | Facing the biggest test of his presidency, President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday launched a series of public forums inviting voters to express their concerns and hopes after two months of anti-government protests. Here’s how the government plans to carry out its “Great National Debate”, aimed …
Read More »British PM faces confidence vote after Brexit humiliation
London, United Kingdom | AFP | Prime Minister Theresa May will on Wednesday face a confidence vote after MPs overwhelmingly rejected her deal to leave the European Union, leaving Britain with no plan as it hurtles towards Brexit on March 29. May suffered the largest government defeat in modern British …
Read More »