Reuters, Mexico City
A group of 50 Central American migrants who set out from southern Mexico in late March have reached the U.S. border, having endured the long journey despite threats by President Donald Trump to secure the border with National Guard personnel.Since peaking at around 1,500 people, the so-called migrant “caravan” has dwindled under pressure from Trump and Mexican migration authorities, who vowed to separate those migrants with a right to stay in Mexico from those who did not.
King renames Swaziland as ‘eSwatini’
AFP, Mbabane
The king of Swaziland, one of the world’s few absolute monarchs, announced on Thursday that his country had changed its name to eSwatini to mark 50 years since independence from British rule.
Meaning “place of the Swazi”, eSwatini is the Swazi language name for the tiny nation landlocked between South Africa and Mozambique.
Unlike some countries, Swaziland did not change its name when it gained independence in 1968 after being a British protectorate for more than 60 years.
S Sudan army chief dead
Reuters, Juba
South Sudan’s army chief General James Ajongo died in Cairo on Friday following a short illness, government spokesman Michael Makuei Lueth said.
“It is with a heavy heart that I announce the untimely death of Gen. James Ajongo Madut, SPLA army’s chief of defense force,” Lueth said.
Burundi reshuffles Cabinet
AFP, Nairobi
Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza reshuffled his cabinet Thursday, replacing the foreign minister but keeping officials in charge of next month’s constitutional referendum that could see him stay in power until 2034.
High-profile foreign minister Alain-Aime Nyamitwe, the brother of press chief Willy Nyamitwe, was removed from his post along with three others while five new ministers were appointed, according to a presidential decree, increasing the cabinet to 21.
2 black men arrested at Starbucks
The Washington Post
One week after they were arrested at a Philadelphia Starbucks, the two black men seen in a cellphone video viewed more than 11 million times went on “Good Morning America” Thursday to describe how arriving 10 minutes early to a business meeting put them in handcuffs.
Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, along with their lawyer Stewart Cohen, spoke with GMA’s Robin Roberts to describe their encounter with the white Starbucks manager who called 911 on them and the police who arrived soon afterward.
