AFRICA

Yaoundé, Cameroon | AFP |   Cameroon became independent in 1960, the first of 17 African countries to break free from their European colonial masters that year. Here are key dates in the country since then. – 1960: independence –  Cameroon was a German protectorate and was split between Britain and …

Yaoundé, Cameroon | AFP |  Next year will see a wave of celebrations in Africa among 17 countries that gained their independence in 1960. But in Cameroon, the first country in the jubilee line, the mood among many people is sour. The highly diverse central-western state was traditionally viewed as one …

Kigali, Rwanda | AFP |  Slum dwellers in Kigali are accusing city authorities of razing their homes without paying compensation, stirring anger among poorer Rwandans who feel marginalised by a government-led push to modernise the capital. This month, the first of thousands of homes slated for demolition in Kigali’s unplanned …

Tunis, Tunisia | AFP |  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met his counterpart in Tunisia on Wednesday to discuss the conflict in neighbouring Libya, whose UN-recognised unity government has signed a military deal with Ankara. “We discussed ways to cooperate to reach a cease-fire in Libya and restart the political …

Tripoli, Libya | AFP |  Layla Mohammed barely had time to gather her children’s belongings before fleeing their southern Tripoli home when shelling targeted the Libyan capital’s outskirts earlier this year. For months she moved her family between apartments as soaring rents in the crowded city exhausted her savings, eventually leaving …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP |  Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki flew to Addis Ababa Wednesday for his first meeting with the Ethiopian prime minister since Abiy Ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize for initiating a thaw between the sparring neighbours. Eritrea and Ethiopia fought a border war in 1998-2000 that left …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP |  A former DR Congo prime minister and opposition leader on Monday called for the government to wage war on neighbouring Rwanda as a way to end militia violence. The Democratic Republic of Congo was at the heart of two bitter regional wars between 1997-2003 involving …

Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP |  Ivory Coast prosecutors on Monday issued an arrest warrant for presidential candidate Guillaume Soro who aborted a planned return by diverting his flight to Ghana as security forces stormed his party headquarters in Abidjan. The former rebel chief’s scheduled return to the Ivory Coast after …

Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | Former Ivory Coast rebel chief and presidential candidate Guillaume Soro landed Monday in neighbouring Ghana after his private flight was diverted “against his will”, his party said. Soro’s planned return to the Ivory Coast as candidate in next year’s ballot is raising tensions in …

New York, United States | AFP | Boeing on Monday replaced its embattled chief executive, Dennis Muilenburg, as it attempts to pivot from a protracted crisis surrounding the grounding of its top-selling 737 MAX after two deadly crashes. More than nine months after the MAX was grounded and a week …