CONTINENTAL DRIFT

A born high-flyer

An unexpected passenger joined a Jubba Airways flight travelling from Hargeisa, the capital of the self-declared Republic of Somaliland, to Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, when a baby was born midair. The seven-monthpregnant mother started feeling contractions shortly after takeoff. The cabin crew were immediately alerted to the woman’s distress and, with a little help from trained paramedics on board, the baby was delivered at 9 753m. An ambulance took the mother and the baby to hospital after the plane landed safely in Mogadishu.

Riding like royalty

The Zimbabwean government has bought 226 Isuzu doublecab vehicles worth $6-million for tribal chiefs across the country. President Robert Mugabe made the announcement at the annual National Council of Chiefs Conference, explaining that he wanted to restore their status as they were poor and had no transport. Mugabe also said that the chiefs were receiving strong, wellequipped vehicles so that their “mothers and wives” could experience the “pleasure of royalty”.

Liberia run-off delay

The run-off presidential election in Liberia, scheduled for November 7, has been suspended by the Supreme Court. The court says it must first consider a legal challenge to the first-round results, which set up the run-off between former football star George Weah and current Vice-President Joseph Boakai. Third-place finisher Charles Brumskine has alleged that the first round was rigged.

Social media blues

As popular protests mount against him, Togolese President Faure Gnassingbé is blaming social media for painting him in a negative light. He told ruling party members in a speech: “Today, those who intoxicate, those who lie, have found allies in technology and can turn a righteous thing, or a simple man like me, into a bloody dictator. But sooner or later, the truth shall triumph.” The opposition has called for another series of protests over the course of next week, despite the government’s ban on weekday political demonstrations — and, naturally, the protests are mostly organised on social media.

Cameroonian critic jailed

A military court jailed a prominent Cameroonian opposition leader to 25 years in jail. Aboubakar Siddiki was convicted of “hostility against the homeland as well as revolution and contempt of the president”, in relation to accusations that he plotted to destabilise the country. Amnesty International dismissed the verdict as part of a government campaign to stifle its critics.

Rare Eritrea protest

Gunshots were heard on the streets of the Eritrean capital Asmara on Tuesday, according to the United States embassy, which issued a security alert advising US citizens to “avoid the downtown area where protests appear to be more prevalent”. No one’s sure what sparked the protests, but in secretive, authoritarian Eritrea, where political protests are almost unheard of, the mere fact of their happening is news enough. —