Daily News on the Issues Affecting Africa for July 17th

Continue reading for a summary of recent news stories relating to some of the most pressing issues on the continent. We draw on a wide range of respected news sources, both from Africa itself and around the world. The themes of today's In the News post are African elections, China in Africa, the Sudanese President, and violence in Guinea.

L'Egypte se dote d'un nouveau gouvernement sans islamistes
Le nouveau gouvernement égyptien a prêté serment, mardi 16 juillet, moins de deux semaines après le renversement du président Mohamed Morsi par l'armée. La nouvelle équipe gouvernementale a immédiatement été rejetée par les Frères musulmans. Moins de deux semaines après la destitution de Mohamed Morsi, alors que des violences continue à faire de nombreuses victimes, l'Égypte s'est dotée d'un nouveau gouvernement, qui comprend plus d'une trentaine de membres issus d'horizons divers. Les Frères musulmans, mouvement dont est issu le président déchu, a immédiatement rejeté ce nouveau gouvernement. « Nous ne reconnaissons pas sa légitimité ni son autorité », a réagi un porte-parole de la confrérie, Gehad El-Haddad.
To read more please visit Jeune Afrique here

Election campaigns kick off in war-torn Mali
Campaigns for Mali's anxiously awaited presidential election officially began on Sunday. But doubts persist about whether or not the divided West African nation is ready to hold the vote after an 18-month political crisis. Campaigning for Mali's highly anticipated July 28 presidential election officially kicked off on Sunday, with the deeply divided West African nation struggling to return to constitutional order after an 18-month political crisis. The ballot will be the first since a coup in March 2012 that ousted the democratically elected president, Amadou Toumani Touré, just months before he was to step down at the end of his final term in office.
To read more please visit France 24 Int'l News here+

PM criticizes 'chaotic' Zimbabwe voting
Zimbabwe's prime minister, who is also the country's opposition leader, has said that it has lost faith in the electoral commission after "chaotic and disorganized" special voting for security forces ahead of key polls. Long queues and the late delivery of ballot papers marked the two-day early vote, which started on Sunday for police officers and soldiers who will be on duty on July 31 when the rest of the country votes. Many security force agents found themselves unable to vote, drawing condemnation from Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on Tuesday.
To read more please visit al Jazeera English here

SA's Thembu King Dalindyebo defects from ANC to DA
King Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo defected after holding talks with DA Eastern Cape leader Athol Trollip. Last week, he accused President Jacob Zuma of being "just a Zulu boy", in a sign of growing ethnic divisions. The mainly white DA is trying to boost its membership in black areas. General elections are due next year, with the ANC, in power since white minority rule ended in 1994, expected to win. King Dalindyebo is facing a threat to his traditional post from within his family. His brother, Daludumo Mtirara, has refused to recognise him as king and is lobbying the government to strip him of the post.
To read more please visit the BBC here

Nigeria: les bonnes affaires de Goodluck Jonathan en Chine
Au troisième jour de son voyage en Chine qui doit s'achever ce vendredi, le président nigérian Goodluck Jonathan rencontre ce jeudi 11 juillet les dirigeants de grandes entreprises chinoises, et le Premier ministre Li Keqiang. Cette visite d'Etat de quatre jours vise à accroître les échanges et les investissements entre la seconde économie mondiale et le premier producteur de pétrole d'Afrique. Goodluck Jonathan, reçu hier par son homologue Xi Jinping, va d'ailleurs ramener un grand prêt chinois qui permettra de financer des infrastructures au Nigeria. Un prêt de plus d'un milliard de dollars avec un taux préférentiel à moins de 3%... Voilà ce que le président nigérian Goodluck Jonathan est, entre autres, venu chercher à Pékin.
To read more please visit the RFI site here

Omar Al-Bashir, Sudan President, Has Fled Nigeria, Diplomat Claims
Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir has left Nigeria, the spokesman at his embassy said Tuesday, following demands from human rights activists for his arrest over charges of genocide and war crimes in Darfur. Spokesman Mohammed Moiz said al-Bashir left to fulfill another engagement. Moiz said he left Abuja, Nigeria's capital, at 3 p.m. Monday, less than 24 hours after he arrived and in the middle of a two-day summit ending Tuesday. Nigeria's Vanguard newspaper reported that the Sudanese leader was expected to make a presentation Monday afternoon at an African Union summit but failed to show up.
To read more please visit the Huffington Post here

Progress welcomed in Mozambique peace talks
Observers greeted progress in the latest peace negotiations between Mozambique's government and former rebels with cautious optimism Tuesday after months of renewed violence. Simmering tensions between rebel group-turned-opposition party Renamo and the Frelimo government erupted into armed clashes in April — more than two decades after the end of the southern African country's civil war. After 11 rounds of talks aimed at resolving the crisis, news finally came Monday that the government and Renamo had reached a partial agreement to change electoral laws — an announcement that was broadly welcomed.
To read more please visit the Nation site here

Kenya's Ruto ICC trial to take place in the Hague despite pleas
Ruto will be tried for crimes against humanity in the Hague in September, the International Criminal Court (ICC) said on Monday. "The judges of the ICC have decided ... that the commencement of the trial against William Ruto will take place at the seat of the court in the Hague, Netherlands," the tribunal said in a statement. Ruto (46) faces three counts of crimes against humanity over deadly violence that erupted in Kenya after elections in late 2007, which claimed some 1 100 lives and displaced around 600 000 others. The Hague-based court last month set September 10 as the start date for the trial of Ruto and fellow-accused Joshua Arap Sang (37), but at the time recommended that part or all of the high-profile hearing be held in Kenya or Tanzania.
To read more please visit the Mail & Guardian here

Ghana deports thousands of illegal Chinese miners
Immigration authorities say more than 4 500 Chinese nationals have been repatriated after a series of swoops on illegal goldmines. The Guardian has learned that Ghana's government, which depends heavily on China for billions of dollars in loans and as its major trading partner, believes Beijing may be retaliating, damaging relations between the two countries. "Of late we have seen a tightening of the visa regime at the Chinese embassy for Ghanaians. We don't know whether this is a manifestation of our actions to deport illegal Chinese goldminers," said Alhaji Inusah Fuseini, Ghana's minister of lands and mines.
To read more please visit the Mail & Guardian here

Appeal for calm amid deadly clashes in Guinea
President Alpha Conde has appealed for calm after at least 12 people were killed and 50 others injured in two days of ethnic violence in southeastern Guinea. "The town of Nzerekore has witnessed events resulting in a loss of human life, several wounded and important damage to property," Conde said in an address on national television. "Faced with this situation, I call on the population for calm. No one should take [the] law into their own hands." In Guinea's second largest city of Nzerekore, which lies some 980km from the coastal capital Conakry, ethnic gangs prowled the streets for a second day on Tuesday.
To read more please visit al Jazeera English here