AFRICA

Brussels, Belgium | AFP | Belgium said Saturday it has agreed to host Ivory Coast ex-president Laurent Gbagbo pending a possible appeal against his acquittal by the International Criminal Court in The Hague on charges of crimes against humanity. On January 15, the tribunal acquitted Gbagbo and his aide, Charles …

Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | Ivory Coast ex-president Laurent Gbagbo, the first former head of state to go on trial before the International Criminal Court in The Hague, was ordered freed by the court on Friday. The court agreed to his release following his acquittal last month on charges of …

  Blantyre, Malawi | AFP | Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima and former president Joyce Banda have formed an alliance to take on the ruling party in May elections, a joint statement said Friday. The opposition alliance does not include the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), which came second to the ruling …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | In the weeks leading up to Democratic Republic of Congo’s controversial election, those leaving power quietly passed two decrees guaranteeing themselves money and benefits that would ensure their financial security for decades to come. Ministers in the outgoing government of now ex-president Joseph Kabila awarded …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has urged Nigerians to reject President Muhammadu Buhari and his main challenger in this month’s presidential election, saying it was time for a “totally new direction.” Buhari, 76, came to power in 2015 and is seeking a second term in the February …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria has filed corruption charges against two former senior government officials and close aides of President Muhammadu Buhari who were sacked for alleged graft, the country’s anti-corruption agency said on Thursday. The appointments of top civil servant Babachir Lawal and Ayo Oke, director-general of the National Intelligence Agency, were terminated …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | DR Congo’s government has asked its UN peacekeeping mission for help against Rwandan rebels planning operations against Rwanda from inside Congolese territory, the UN said on Wednesday. Leila Zerrougui, chief of the UN mission known as MONUSCO, said Kinshasa asked in a letter for …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudan’s army has said it will not allow the state to collapse amid nationwide protests, as the defence minister warned of a “plot” to trigger insecurity in the African nation. Deadly protests have rocked Sudan for weeks now, with protesters calling for an end to …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | About 300 Sudanese professors and lecturers from the University of Khartoum held a sit-in protest on campus Wednesday against President Omar al-Bashir’s government, a spokesman for the group said. Deadly protests have rocked the east African country since December 19 after a government decision to …

  Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | One in seven Nigerians uses drugs, more than twice the global average, according to the country’s first major national drug-use survey published on Tuesday. The survey, conducted by the Nigerian government, the European Union and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime(UNODC), said an …