Saturday, 25 May 2013 13:12
Posted by Parvez Jabri
ADDIS ABABA: African leaders on Saturday opened celebrations for the 50th jubilee of the continental bloc, with Africa's myriad problems set aside for a day to mark the progress that has been made.African Union Chairman and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, in a speech to open the ceremony, said the celebrations would look forward to "create a continent free from poverty and conflict and an Africa whose citizens enjoy a middle income status."Today's 54-member AU is the successor of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), established amid the heady days as independence from colonial rule swept the continent in 1963."While our founders met for the formation of the OAU at the dawn of the independence period 50 years ago, it is fitting that we are meeting here today at a time when Africa is rising," Hailemariam added.Leaders said the celebrations would boost the movement to support pan-Africanism."When we therefore talk ...
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ADDIS ABABA: African leaders on Saturday opened celebrations for the 50th jubilee of the continental bloc, with Africa's myriad problems set aside for a day to mark the progress that has been made.African Union Chairman and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, in a speech to open the ceremony, said the celebrations would look forward to "create a continent free from poverty and conflict and an Africa whose citizens enjoy a middle income status."Today's 54-member AU is the successor of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), established amid the heady days as independence from colonial rule swept the continent in 1963."While our founders met for the formation of the OAU at the dawn of the independence period 50 years ago, it is fitting that we are meeting here today at a time when Africa is rising," Hailemariam added.Leaders said the celebrations would boost the movement to support pan-Africanism."When we therefore talk ...
BUJUMBURA: Burundi's trade deficit widened to $197.3 million in the first quarter from $131.4 million in the same period of 2012 as imports rose sharply, the central bank said on Friday.Export revenues nudged 1.4 percent higher, to $33.4 million, while import costs surged 43.3 percent to $218.9 million.Dependence on imports and a weak currency are seen as the main economic weaknesses for the central African country of more than 8 million people.Burundi's franc fell 14 ...
ADDIS ABABA: African nations have backed a request by Kenya for charges of crimes against humanity by its president to be referred back to the east African country, African Union documents show.President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy, William Ruto, are both facing trial in the International Criminal Court (ICC), accused of masterminding ethnic bloodshed in post-election violence five years ago that killed more than 1,200 people. Both deny the charges.One minister, who asked to remain ...
JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's first inhabitants, the Khoi and San people, want official recognition of their identity and reject the mixed-race tag they've been carrying since the end of apartheid, a leader has said.The country's first indigenous people want to benefit more from policies to address abuses under white minority-rule, provincial leader Raymond Trollip said at a conference."Our black brothers and sisters drive nice cars and live in nice houses and we are lower down the ...
GOMA: Nineteen people have been killed and 27 injured in fierce clashes between the army and M23 rebels in the restive eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the government said as fighting resumed on Tuesday.Mortar fire rang out for a second day north of Goma, ahead of a visit by UN chief Ban Ki-moon to DRC on Wednesday as part of a tour that will take him to the volatile provincial capital.Government spokesman Lambert Mende told ...
EL-ARISH: The Egyptian army sent reinforcements into the Sinai Peninsula on Monday after President Mohamed Mursi said there would be no talks with militant Islamists who abducted seven members of the security forces last week.Radical Islamists have expanded into a security vacuum in Sinai that the state has struggled to fill since an uprising swept autocrat Hosni Mubarak from power in 2011. The groups have launched attacks on Israel and targets in North Sinai.The kidnapping ...
JOHANNESBURG: Big wage hikes demanded by the government-allied trade union in South Africa's coal and gold industries helped push the rand to a four-year low on Monday, highlighting the ripple effect of the prospect of more turmoil in the industry.The National Union of Mineworkers' (NUM) call for pay rises of up to 60 percent in a submission to the Chamber of Mines seen by Reuters on Sunday rattled mining investors after wildcat strikes at platinum ...
