HN is not my only news source, but you're close: tech news is most of my news source. I hear/watch/read other stuff maybe weekly.
The thing is, I see no big advantage in knowing there has been another shooting somewhere. Enough of that and I'd have enough hindsight bias not to want to be in crowds anymore. Knowing this doesn't make me feel good or improve my life in any way.
Of course it's important to know in general what's going on (e.g. brexit), but I'll hear that from enough people around me. (In fact I hear every shooting anyway from people around me, I just don't learn every single detail unless I choose something is worth looking up.)
As for the African Union specifically though, I'm pretty sure I would have heard it mentioned in passing if it was a really important things. From what I read in comments here, it doesn't do much anyway, and from yearly reports from e.g. the Gates Foundation I would have heard about it if the AU played a big role.
Your comment leans towards a personal attack so I guess that's why you were downvoted, but that's not entirely fair: you do make a fair point and I don't actually take it personally.
That's really not an appropriate tone to take with someone who learned something new. There are probably lots of things that you don't know that are obvious to other people.
Wow! Just wow!
In 2016 somebody with upvoter privileges on HN does not know that AU exists?
HN is a great resources, but the downside is for some people, it's the only resource, so if something is not posted here, it didn't happen.