Africa

Zimbabweans celebrate in S. Africa years after fleeing Mugabe

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AFP) — Hundreds of Zimbabweans who fled their homeland for South Africa during the despotic rule of Robert Mugabe took to the streets of Johannesburg to celebrate the resignation of the hated president. Blowing vuvuzelas, waving Zimbabwean flags and stamping their feet, Zimbabweans danced their way through Hillbrow, a cosmopolitan Johannesburg neighborhood with a strong community of African immigrants. “We want to go back home, even tomorrow, even now at night. I’m […]

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Mugabe resigns, ending 37-year reign over Zimbabwe

by Susan Njanji, Fanuel Jongwe, Reagan Mashavave and Ben Sheppard Agence France Presse HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP) — Robert Mugabe resigned as Zimbabwe’s president on Tuesday, finally swept from power as his 37-year reign of autocratic control and brutality crumbled within days of a military takeover. The move looks set to end Zimbabwe’s worst political crisis since it won independence from Britain in 1980. The bombshell announcement came at a special joint session of parliament convened […]

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Teenage suicide bomber kills at least 50 in Nigeria mosque

  by Aminu ABUBAKAR with Phil HAZLEWOOD in Lagos Agence France Presse KANO, Nigeria (AFP) — At least 50 people were killed on Tuesday when a teenage suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque in northeast Nigeria, police said, in an attack blamed on Boko Haram jihadists. The blast happened during early morning prayers at the Madina mosque in the Unguwar Shuwa area of Mubi, some 200 kilometres (125 miles) by road from the […]

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Japan PM welcomes U.S. designation of North Korea as a sponsor of terrorism

TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday (November 21) welcomed U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to put North Korea back on a list of state sponsors of terrorism, saying it would ramp up pressure on Pyongyang. The designation came a week after Trump returned from a 12-day, five-nation trip to Asia in which he made containing North Korea’s nuclear ambitions a centerpiece of his discussions. It allows the United States to […]

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Army appeals for calm as Mugabe faces impeachment test

by Susan Njanji and Ben Sheppard Agence France Presse HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP) — Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe came under increasing pressure to quit Monday as his ruling party said it would move to impeach him and the army revealed his likely successor would soon return to the country. In a televised address late Sunday, the 93-year-old president had flouted expectations he would step down after the military’s takeover, pitching the country into a second week […]

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Relatives mourn Morocco stampede victims

by Hamza Mekouar © Agence France-Presse ESSAOUIRA, Morocco (AFP) — Mourning relatives on Monday started burying the victims of a stampede that killed 15 women during a food aid delivery near the popular tourist town of Essaouira on Morocco’s coast. “It’s a tragedy,” said the husband of one of the victims, breaking down in tears after burying her. Hundreds of women had gathered on Sunday at a marketplace in the village of Sidi Boulaalam, around 60 kilometres (35 […]

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Noon deadline looms for defiant Mugabe as Zimbabwe crisis deepens

by Susan Njanji © Agence France-Presse HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP) — Robert Mugabe faced the threat of impeachment by his own party on Monday, after his shock insistence he still holds power in Zimbabwe despite a military takeover and a noon deadline to end his 37-year autocratic rule. In a televised address late Sunday, the 93-year-old veteran leader defied expectations that he would bring the curtain down on his reign, pitching the country into a second week of […]

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Mugabe clings to office; dashes resignation hopes in TV speech

by Susan Njanji Agence France Presse HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP) — Robert Mugabe clung on as Zimbabwe’s president Sunday, using national TV to insist he still holds power despite a military takeover and mounting pressure for his autocratic 37-year rule to end. Crowds who gathered in bars and cafes in Harare to watch the address, which was widely expected would end in the 93-year-old’s resignation, were left stunned and disconsolate. Some wept openly. “The (ruling ZANU-PF) […]

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Zimbabwe’s ousted vice president back in the country

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP) — Zimbabwe’s former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa, whose sacking last week triggered the military takeover, has returned to the country, a senior aide told AFP on Friday. “Yes, he is back,” said the aide, who declined to be named, adding that Mnangagwa, who is a potential successor to President Robert Mugabe, had returned on Thursday after nearly a week abroad. In talks with the army chief on Thursday, Mugabe refused to resign, […]

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Mugabe meets generals, refuses to stand down

 by Susan Njanji Agence France-Presse HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP) — Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has refused to resign after meeting generals who have seized control of the country, as sources suggested the veteran leader was “buying time” to negotiate his exit. The talks in Harare on Thursday come after soldiers this week put Mugabe under house arrest, took over state TV and blockaded main roads in a stunning turnaround for the 93-year-old leader who has ruled the country with […]

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Mugabe refuses to stand down in talks with military

by Susan Njanji Agence France Presse HARARE, Zimbabwe (AFP) — Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, the world’s oldest head of state, refused to resign during a crunch meeting Thursday with military generals who have seized control of the country. The talks in Harare came after tumultuous days in which soldiers blockaded key roads, took over state TV and put the veteran leader under house arrest. “They met today. He is refusing to step down. I think […]

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Military vehicles patrol Harare streets, Mugabe resists pressure to quit

HARARE, Zimbabwe (Reuters) — Military vehicles were seen outside Zimbabwe’s parliament building and soldiers were seen patrolling the streets in Harare on Thursday (November 16). President Robert Mugabe is insisting he remains Zimbabwe’s only legitimate ruler, an intelligence source said on Thursday, and is resisting mediation by a Catholic priest to allow the 93-year-old former guerrilla a graceful exit after a military coup. The priest, Fidelis Mukonori, is acting as a middle-man between Mugabe and […]

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