Listen Cairo (Alshahid)-The first round of the Egyptian constitutional referendum, involving 10 provinces, Cairo and Alexandria included, ended with a 57% yes vote. An official tweet by the Muslim Brotherhood early Sunday said the group’s tallies show nearly 57 percent of voters said “yes” to the disputed charter, while about 43 percent voted `no.’ The [...]

Listen The world’s first comprehensive, continental treaty that addresses the multiple causes of internal displacement took effect on December 6th, in Africa. The treaty, named the Kampala Convention, was first adopted by the African Union in October 2009 in Kampala, Uganda. 15 countries are now bound by the convention, and 37 of the 53 countries [...]

Listen Cairo (Alshahid)-At least five people had died and more than 350 injured after rival groups clashed in the streets around the Egyptian presidential palace for hours overnight. The rival groups are supporters and opponents of President Mohammed Morsi. The clashes followed two weeks of sporadic violence around the country since President Morsi, a former [...]

Listen China and the African Union Council have signed an agreement aimed at boosting the AU’s peace and security efforts on the continent. “Under the agreements, the Chinese side will provide a total of 80 million yuan ($12.8 million) to cover the expenses of logistical materials supplied to the AU’s peacekeeping operations,” read a statement [...]

Listen Kampala (Alshahid)-Uganda has threatened to withdraw its peacekeepers from Somalia if the United Nations Security Council accepts an expert panel’s report that links Uganda and Rwanda to rebels in eastern Congo. In a statement to parliament, Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi said on Friday that the UN report carried baseless, unfair and malicious allegations. Mbabazi said [...]

Listen Khartoum (Alshahid)-Four aircraft bombed a military factory in Sudanese capital of Khartoum on Wednesday, officials said, killing two people in an explosion and fire for which Sudan blamed Israel. A huge fire broke out late on Tuesday at the Yarmouk arms factory in the south of the capital which was rocked by several explosions, [...]

Listen Nairobi (Alshahid)-The Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, was not awarded for a third time in four years as no suitable candidates were found. The $5 million award is meant to be given out annually to a democratically elected African leader who showed exceptional leadership, served only for a constitutionally-mandated term and [...]

Listen Addis Ababa (Alshahid)- The new head of the African Union Commission, South Africa’s Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, took office on Monday becoming the first female to assume the top position of the 54 member continental bloc. AU chairman and President of Benin Thomas Yayi Boni wished Dlamini-Zuma “great success” at the inauguration ceremony in the Ethiopian [...]

Listen Nouakchott (Alshahid)-Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was “lightly wounded” after a military patrol had mistakenly opened fire on his convoy, Communications Minister Hamdi Ould Mahjoub said on national TV on Saturday. Earlier reports said a man in a car came close and fired at the president as he was driving from his weekend [...]

Listen                     The AU has revived its push for the lifting of the UN arms embargo on Somalia, to facilitate the proper arming of its forces and also urged the world body to authorize the deployment of additional military capacity. This is contained in a communiqué [...]