Shenyang, China | AFP | China’s Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo died Thursday after a battle with cancer, remaining in custody until the end as officials ignored international pleas to let him spend his final days free and abroad. The prominent democracy advocate died aged 61, more than a month after …
Read More »Sierra Leone grants mothers right to pass on citizenship
Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP | Women from Sierra Leone can now pass on their nationality to their children, following the passage of what women’s rights groups said Friday was a landmark change in the law for gender equality. Until the new Citizenship Amendment Act was passed on Wednesday, Sierra Leonean …
Read More »Togo purges its violent past with voodoo ceremonies
Lome, Togo | AFP | The voodoo follower stood bare-chested with beads around his neck in the centre of the public square in Bè, a working class district of Togo’s capital, Lome. A dozen priests surrounded him as he made incantations, threw soil and water, and gave an offering to …
Read More »Rights groups urge Tanzania to stop threatening civil society
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Tanzania’s government must stop issuing threats against rights groups working with teen mothers or campaigning for gay rights, a joint statement from these organisations said Thursday. President John Magufuli and top government officials have issued a series of statements vowing to deregister or charge non-governmental …
Read More »Burundi becoming a ‘violent dictatorship’: report
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza and his ruling party have moved the country toward violent dictatorship, rights groups said Tuesday in a report that slams the international community for inaction. A “purge” of ethnic Tutsis from the army, a crackdown on opposition and media and a …
Read More »Gay friendly Madrid gears for WorldPride, Uganda to feature
The annual “drag race” through Chueca with men in high heels, wigs and figure-hugging dresses is another must, as well as the Mr Gay World competition Madrid, Spain | AFP | Some two million revellers are expected in Madrid starting Friday as the Spanish capital hosts WorldPride 2017, one of …
Read More »UN says Burundi still torturing and killing opponents
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Burundi security forces and government-allied militia are continuing to torture and kill opponents, UN investigators said Thursday, allegations denied by the government. The investigators from the UN’s Commission of Inquiry on Burundi have been denied entry to the country said there was a “feeling of …
Read More »Nigerian Army rejects grounds for war crimes probe
Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s military has rejected a call for senior army officers to be investigated for possible war crimes in the fight against Boko Haram Islamists. Amnesty International named six serving or retired army officers whom it said should be probed to establish whether they were responsible …
Read More »DR Congo’s tainted ex-police chief Numbi made national hero
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Democratic Republic of Congo’s former police chief John Numbi, believed by regime critics to be prime suspect in the murder of a key rights activist, has been made a national hero. Numbi, who holds the rank of general, is one of eight senior police …
Read More »Senegal charges 4 over doctored WhatsApp photo of president
Dakar, Senegal | AFP | Four people have been charged over sharing a doctored photo of Senegalese President Macky Sall’s face superimposed on the body of a naked man via WhatsApp, a lawyer said Friday. The three women and one man, all in their twenties, where imprisoned Friday in Dakar …
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