Commonwealth Update

Kenya sent troops into Somalia in what has been seen as an attempt to carve out a sphere of influence in the war-torn country. The Islamist militant group Boko Haram killed more than 100 people in Nigeria. Attempts to reform the Commonwealth largely failed after the Chogm summit in Perth rejected proposals of the Eminent Persons Group. Despite calls at Chogm to decriminalise homosexuality in Commonwealth countries, two Malaysian states are set to increase penalties. As Australia was named as host of the 2018 Commonwealth Games, it emerged that 30 foreign contractors are still owed $80m for the recent Delhi games, which were marred by corruption. Hopes of campaigners that Uganda was finally acting on corruption were dashed. Michael Sata, a former cleaner at a London train station, became president of Zambia. The African National Congress suspended Julius Malema, firebrand leader of its Youth League and seen as a future president of South Africa, for five years.