TimeLine Layout

October, 2017

  • 20 October

    German court jails Ghanaian for 11 years for rape

    A rejected asylum seeker accused of raping a girl in front of her boyfriend at a nature reserve in April has been sentenced to more than 11 years in jail. A 31-year-old man from Ghana was found guilty of rape by a court in Bonn on Thursday (19 October) and was sentenced to eleven and a half years in custody. …

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  • 20 October

    Candidates for Sierra Leone’s 2018 presidential election emerge

    Sierra Leoneans will go to the polls in 2018 to elect a new president. Incumbent Ernest Bai Koroma is not eligible to stand after serving two consecutive terms. Koroma came to power in 2007 under the aegis of the All People’s Congress (APC), he won a second term in November 2012. The two main candidates aiming for Bai Koroma’s seat …

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  • 20 October

    Date set for Liberia’s presidential run-off

    Liberia’s National Elections Commission (NEC) on Thursday released the full results of the 10 October general election. The body further confirmed a run-off vote between the two top candidates for the presidency, which it has set for 7 November. Ex-football star George Weah of the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) will face current vice-president, Joseph Boakai of the ruling Unity …

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  • 19 October

    Thousands protest Somalia’s deadliest attack

    Thousands of Somalis led by President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed have staged a demonstration in Mogadishu following Saturday’s terror attack. Thousands of protesters flooded the streets of Mogadishu on Wednesday in defiance of Saturday’s blasts that claimed more than 300 lives. Somalia’s deadliest attacks to date reportedly came in retaliation for a joint raid by the country’s government and the US …

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  • 19 October

    Nigerians to converge on Lisbon for NIDO housing investment summit

    Nigerians from across Europe will converge on the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, on 9-11 November for the annual general meeting or AGM of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Europe (NIDOE). The congress will deliberate on the state of the organisation and on issues important to the Nigerian Diaspora generally. Moreover, NIDOE members will discuss developments at home as they affect the …

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  • 18 October

    Kenya: Election commissioner resigns, flees ahead of presidential poll

    A senior official of Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has resigned from her job a week before a repeat presidential election, saying the election body was under siege and could not hold a credible election. “The commission in its current state can surely not guarantee a credible election on 26 October 2017,” Roselyn Akombe, an IEBC commissioner, said …

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  • 18 October

    London’s Somerset House showcases contemporary African art

    The 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair rolled into town at the historic Somerset House in London on 5-8 October. The exhibition now in its 5th year is now firmly rooted in the international arts calendar and is a fantastic platform for contemporary African art, reports Ade Omoloja from London. The 1:54 Contemporary African Art Fair takes place at Somerset House …

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  • 17 October

    Cameroon: The long history of Anglophone discord

    Since October 2016, protests and strikes related to sectoral demands have escalated into a crisis over the economic and political marginalisation of Cameroon’s Anglophone minority. The crisis reached a new low at the weekend of 30 September-1 October when at least 17 people were shot dead by security forces and 50 wounded, according to Amnesty International. Mbom Sixtus, freelance journalist …

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  • 17 October

    US changes application date for 2019 Diversity Visa Lottery

    The United States Department of State will restart the registration period for the 2019 Diversity Visa Lottery after it was marred by technical issues. The new registration period opens for electronic entries on 18 October 2017 at 6 p.m. GMT, and closes on 22 November 2017 at 6 p.m. GMT. The official website of the US Department of State issued …

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  • 17 October

    Shock and revulsion over Mogadishu bombing

    The bomb was as enormous as the flecks of torn skin smudging the ground are miniscule. Entire overcrowded buses were blown up, every passenger killed. No one in the vicinity was spared: shopkeepers at the side of the road selling khat; office managers; children fooling around or running errands for parents; a medical student about to graduate; mothers; fathers; sisters; …

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