Africa world

    Zimbabwe’s former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa will be sworn in as president on Friday following the resignation of Robert Mugabe after nearly four decades in power, state broadcaster ZBC reported on Wednesday. Mnangagwa, who fled for his safety after Mugabe sacked him two weeks ago, will land at Manyame Airbase in Harare at 6pm (1600 GMT), ZBC said. Mnangagwa’s sacking prompted the military takeover that forced Mugabe out. Mugabe’s downfall came suddenly for a man once feted across Africa as a liberation hero for leading his country to independence from Britain in 1980 after a war. The 93-year-old had clung on for a week after the army takeover, with ZANU-PF urging him to go. He finally resigned on Tuesday moments after parliament began an impeachment process...

    Despite mounting calls for his resignation, Robert Mugabe has vowed to stay on as president of Zimbabwe, further extending his nearly four-decade reign in office. The next 48 hours will be crucial, as Mugabe could be impeached when parliament reconvenes on Tuesday. The unfolding political drama in Zimbabwe remains muddled at best and follows a stunning series of events, including a de facto military coup last week and a historic mass demonstration in Harare on Saturday, in which jubilant citizens marched hand-in-hand with the same military officials who had long abused their rights with impunity. On Sunday, the momentum towards Mugabe’s probable ouster picked up steam when the ruling ZANU-PF party voted to expel longtime stalwarts, including Mugabe and his wife Grac...

    The ruling party of Zimbabwe has voted to sack Robert Mugabe as its leader and has appointed the vice-president the veteran autocrat fired two weeks ago in his place. The vote by hundreds of senior Zanu-PF officials in Harare on Sunday significantly weakens the position of Mugabe who has refused to step down following a military takeover last week despite huge marches demanding that he leaves power. Zimbabwe’s parliament will reconvene on Tuesday after a week-long suspension and is expecting to move to impeach the president if he has not given up power. The committee also stripped Grace Mugabe, the divisive first lady, of her position as chair of the party’s women’s league. When the motion was passed, removing Mugabe from the head of the party and reinstating Mnan...

    The 3,000-year-old remains of an ancient fortification have been discovered at the bottom of Turkey's largest lake. Divers exploring Lake Van discovered the incredibly well preserved wall of a castle, thought to have been built by the Urartu civilisation. Experts had been studying the body of water for a decade before it revealed the fortress lost deep below its surface. Watch Video The discovery was made by a team of researchers, including Tahsin Ceylan, an underwater photographer and videographer, diver Cumali Birol, and Mustafa Akkuş, an academic from Van Yüzüncü Yıl University. Legends among the area's population spoke of ancient ruins hidden in the water, and the Van team decided to investigate. Over the course of ten years, they captured images of pearl mu...

    Zimbabwe’s military said Friday it was making ‘significant progress’ in talks with President Robert Mugabe for his departure while it pursues and arrests some allies of the leader and his wife. Talks with Mugabe continued, the military said in a statement reported by the state-run Herald newspaper and Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation. Zimbabwe’s military is ‘currently engaging with the Commander-in-Chief President Robert Mugabe on the way forward and will advise the nation of the outcome as soon as possible,’ the statement said. Significant progress has been made in their operation to weed out criminals around President Mugabe,’ it said, adding that the military had already arrested some although others remained at large. Those sought had been ‘committing crimes that were...

    Zimbabwe dictator Robert Mugabe has been dramatically ousted by his own army, who are set to replace him with the vice president he sacked. Emmerson Mnangagwa, known as “the crocodile”, was expected to be formally made president later today. But the veteran of the 1970s war of independence has a fierce reputation and many fear what is to come next. Mr Mugabe, 93, was still under house arrest last night. The tyrant’s notorious wife Grace was forced to flee the country. Widely thought to be his chosen successor, the military allowed her to fly to neighbouring Namibia to ensure she had no part to play in the new regime. The army described their actions as a bloodless transition. But Zimbabwe analyst Alex Magaisa said: “Although it doesn’t look like a coup, it is a coup. While...

    Zimbabwe's army said Wednesday it has President Robert Mugabe and his wife in custody and is securing government offices and patrolling the capital's streets following a night of unrest that included a military takeover of the state broadcaster. The night's action triggered speculation of a coup, but the military's supporters praised it as a bloodless correction. Armed soldiers in armored personnel carriers stationed themselves at key points in Harare, while Zimbabweans formed long lines at banks in order to draw the limited cash available, a routine chore in the country's ongoing financial crisis. People looked at their phones to read about the army takeover and others went to work or to shops. In an address to the nation after taking control of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting ...

    An Egyptian television presenter has been jailed for three years after she appeared to cast single motherhood in a positive light. On her show, Doaa Salah discussed ways of becoming pregnant outside a conventional husband-and-wife relationship. The presenter was charged with outraging public decency. Sex before or outside marriage is widely regarded as unacceptable in socially conservative Egypt. According to the BBC, Ms Salah discussed ways of becoming pregnant outside a conventional marriage on her show on Al-Nahar TV. She reportedly suggested a husband could be paid for a brief marriage, and also told her audience that sperm donation was accepted in Western countries but not in Egypt.

    Egypt says archaeologists have discovered the head of a wooden statue, likely belonging to a female regent who ruled the country more than 4,000 years ago. Wednesday's statement by the Antiquities Ministry says the artefact was found in the district of Saqqara, near the ancient Pyramids of Giza. It says the part of the statue is in poor condition and will have to undergo restoration. The uncovered head is believed to depict Ankhesenpepi II, the mother of King Pepi II of the 6th dynasty who ascended to the throne at the age of six. She ruled Egypt as regent during the early years of his reign. Earlier in October, archaeologists at the same dig uncovered part of an obelisk made of pink granite that belongs to the same dynasty.

    An injured victim of a female suicide bomber arrives in an ambulance for medical attention at a Maiduguri hospital in northeast Nigeria on August 15, 2017. Boko Haram female suicide bomber detonated her explosives killing 28 people and leaving over 80 others injured at a market in the village of Konduga on the outskirts of Maiduguri in northeast Nigeria. Photo: AFP Kano, Nigeria: Three women suicide bombers blew themselves up at the entrance to a camp for displaced people in northeast Nigeria on Tuesday, killing 28 people and wounding 82, local sources said. The attack — the latest in a string of assaults in the troubled region — took place in the town of Mandarari, 25 kilometres (15 miles) from Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, said Baba Kura, a member of a vigilante...