AFRICA

The agreement will have to dodge a patchwork of trade regulations and tariffs that make intra-African commerce costly | Shoshana Kede | Excitement was palpable throughout the region as the dream for a continental free trade area in Africa got the final ratification needed to become a reality this month. …

Paris, France | AFP |  Black South Africans voted for the first time in April 1994, turning out in droves for a jubilant election that was the final death blow to centuries of white domination. Here is an account of that historic event, based on AFP reports from the time. …

Paris, France | AFP |  South Africa’s first all-race vote 25 years ago turned the page on an oppressive system of racial segregation called apartheid that for roughly 50 years privileged whites over blacks. Here is a reminder. – Races apart – Apartheid — an Afrikaans-language word meaning the state …

Sudan protest leaders suspend talks with army rulers Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Protest leaders on Sunday said they suspended talks with Sudan’s military council as they urged people to intensify their protest outside army headquarters in Khartoum and in other towns. “We will continue the sit-in and we are suspending …

Cash worth $113 mn seized at Bashir’s home: Sudan army ruler Khartoum, Sudan | AFP |  Sudan’s army ruler General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said Sunday that more than 113 million dollars worth of cash in three currencies has been seized from ousted leader Omar al-Bashir’s residence. He said a team …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Protest leaders were to hold talks Saturday with Sudan’s military rulers to seek a timetable for a transfer of power to a civilian administration, leading figures in the protest movement said. The talks come on the eve of the protest leaders’ planned announcement of a ruling …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Egyptians voted Saturday in a referendum that aims to cement the rule of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the former coup leader who presents himself as a rock of stability in a turbulent region. Voters were being asked to back amendments to the constitution to allow Sisi, …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | A court in DR Congo has scrapped a three-year jail term against opposition leader Moise Katumbi, enabling him to return home from self-imposed exile in Belgium, his lawyer said Friday. The decision by the Court of Cassation — the supreme court of appeal — overturns …

Bamako, Mali | AFP | Ethnic violence that has gripped central Mali has led to the downfall of the government, accused of failing to stem bloodshed that has claimed about 600 lives. A statement from President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita’s office late Thursday said he had accepted the resignation of Prime Minister …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudanese protest leaders have announced plans to unveil a civilian body to take over from the ruling military council as demonstrators thronged Friday outside army headquarters and Washington said it would send an envoy to encourage the transition. The military council, which took power after …