The United Nations refugee agency has airlifted aid into Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, for the first time in five years. The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said the first emergency aid flight arrived on Monday, just two days after the Islamist militant group al-Shabab abruptly withdrew from the capital. The group has banned most foreign aid […]
UN Refugees Airlifts Aid Into Somali Capital
Posted August 8th, 2011 at 10:00 am (UTC-5)
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Cape Verde Heads to Presidential Run-Off
Posted August 8th, 2011 at 8:35 am (UTC-5)
The African island nation of Cape Verde is headed toward a presidential run-off vote after no candidate won a majority in the first-round election. The country’s election commission says opposition leader Jorge Carlos Fonseca led the field in Sunday’s voting with 37.4 percent. The ruling party candidate, Manuel Inocencio Sousa, was second with 33.3 percent. […]
US Team in Kenya to Assess and Address Drought
Posted August 8th, 2011 at 8:05 am (UTC-5)
A high-level U.S. government team has arrived in Kenya to assess the impact of the regional drought and discuss solutions with Kenyan officials. The team, led by Jill Biden, wife of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, arrived in Kenya Monday morning. Biden then went to the Dadaab refugee camps, where tens of thousands of Somali […]
Former Leader Wins Sao Tome Election
Posted August 8th, 2011 at 6:05 am (UTC-5)
Former Sao Tome and Principe leader Manuel Pinto da Costa has won a presidential runoff election in the African island nation. The country’s election commission said Monday Mr. Pinto da Costa won 53 percent of the vote, defeating Parliament Speaker Evaristo de Carvalho. Mr. Pinto da Costa had won the first round of voting and […]
Sudanese Independent Newspaper Confiscated
Posted August 7th, 2011 at 12:10 pm (UTC-5)
Sudanese security forces on Sunday confiscated all copies of an independent newspaper as the government continues a media crackdown. The chief editor of al-Ahdath newspaper, Adil al-Baz, told reporters that no explanation was given when troops seized all copies as they came off the printer. This is not the first time Sudan’s government has moved […]
Somali Gov’t, AU Troops Patrol Mogadishu after al-Shabab Retreat
Posted August 7th, 2011 at 10:30 am (UTC-5)
Somali government troops and African Union peacekeepers are patrolling the streets of Mogadishu, a day after al-Shabab militants staged a surprise withdrawal from most of the Somali capital. Somalia’s prime minister, Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, has called the pullout “a tremendous step forward” toward a more stable country. But a small number of gunmen with the […]
Cape Verde, Sao Tome Voters Pick New Presidents
Posted August 7th, 2011 at 8:45 am (UTC-5)
Voters in two island nations off Africa’s western coast went to the polls Sunday to pick new presidents. In Sao Tome and Principe, voters cast ballots in a second-round run-off between former President Manuel Pinto da Costa and Parliament Speaker Evaristo de Carvalho. Da Costa, who led a one-party socialist state from 1975 to 1990, […]
Sudan’s Bashir to Attend Chad President’s Inauguration
Posted August 7th, 2011 at 12:45 am (UTC-5)
Reports from Sudan say President Omar al-Bashir will visit Chad Sunday to attend the inauguration of his Chadian counterpart, Idriss Deby, for a new five-year term in office. This will be Mr. Bashir’s second visit to Chad in as many months, defying International Criminal Court warrants seeking his arrest on charges of war crimes, crimes […]
Sudan’s Bashir to Attend Chad President’s Inauguration
Posted August 6th, 2011 at 7:10 pm (UTC-5)
Reports from Sudan say President Omar al-Bashir will visit Chad Sunday to attend the inauguration of his Chadian counterpart, Idriss Deby, for a new five-year term in office. Sudanese media say Mr. Bashir will lead a high-level delegation to the Chadian capital Ndjamena to participate in the swearing-in ceremony. Mr. Deby won a fourth term […]
Al-Shabab Militants Retreat from Somali Capital
Posted August 6th, 2011 at 4:20 pm (UTC-5)
The African Union-backed government in Somalia has hailed the withdrawal of al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militants from almost all their bases in the country’s famine-struck capital, Mogadishu. In a statement Saturday, Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali said it is a “tremendous step forward” towards a more stable Somalia. He said the al-Shabab retreat is the result of […]
