A court in South Africa has denied a legal bid by the family of former Zambian President Edgar Lungu to appeal a ruling that he must be buried in his own country. Lungu, who led Zambia from 2015-2021, died in a South African hospital in June. He was 68. His family want him to be buried in South Africa and to bar current Zambian President President Hakainde Hichilema from attending or speaking at a state funeral service. However, the Pretoria High Court ruled in August that the government of Zambia had a right to bury its former president, and ordered that his remains...
Ghana Says All Immigrants Deported By The US Have Been Sent Home, Contradicting Lawyers
Authorities in Ghana pushed back Tuesday on claims that four African immigrants recently deported by the U.S. remain in Ghanaian detention, reiterating their assertion that all such migrants have been returned to their home countries. The government said Monday that all 14 of the deportees had been returned to their countries of origin in West Africa. On Tuesday, Ghana’s presidential spokesperson Felix Kwakye Ofosu said in an interview with The Associated Press that 13 Nigerians were sent home on a bus and that one Gambian was sent home on a plane. Lawyers for four of the Nigerians said in U.S....
New York Court Throws Terrorism Charges Against Luigi Mangione
A New York judge on Tuesday threw out terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione, rejecting the Manhattan district attorney’s theory in a state murder case that the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was “intended to evoke terror.” Judge Gregory Carro kept other charges in place, including a second-degree murder count that requires prosecutors to prove Mangione intended to kill Thompson but not that he was doing so as an act of terrorism. The ruling eliminated the top two charges in Mangione’s state case, sparing him the possibility of a mandatory life sentence without the possibility of parole. The 27-year-old Ivy League...
Malawi Counts Votes In A Presidential Election Amid Cost Of Living Crisis
Malawi began counting votes Tuesday in a presidential election that’s expected to be a tight race between old rivals that could go to a runoff and comes at a time of economic turmoil in one of the world’s least-developed countries. Voters faced a choice between giving President Lazarus Chakwera, 70, a second term or selecting another leader to solve the southern African nation’s soaring inflation, cost-of-living crisis and critical fuel shortages. Among the 16 other candidates, former President Peter Mutharika, 85, is viewed as a strong challenger to return as leader. The two rivals faced off in 2019, when Mutharika’s victory as the...
Syria, Jordan, US Agree On Plan To Restore Stability In Sweida After Deadly Clashes
Syria, Jordan and the United States agreed Tuesday on a roadmap to restore security in a southern Syrian region that saw deadly sectarian clashes in July, including plans to guard main roads and prosecute those who incited violence. The days of fighting between members of the country’s Druze minority sect and members of local Bedouin tribes in the Sweida region left hundreds of people dead. Mistrust remains, and some Druze have been demanding self-determination. Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani told reporters at a news conference in Damascus that the agreement among the three countries includes moves to prosecute those who were involved in...
Colombia’s President Lashes Out At Trump Administration Over Drug War Designation
Colombian president Gustavo Petro on Tuesday lashed out at the U.S. government after it added Colombia to a list of nations failing to cooperate in the drug war for the first time in three decades. In a message on his X account, the leftist leader accused the United States of seeking to “participate” in Colombian politics and looking for a “puppet president” as the country prepares for presidential elections next year. “The Colombian people will reply if they want a puppet president…or a free and sovereign nation” Petro wrote, adding in another message that he would not let his nation “kneel” to U.S....