AFRICA

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Leading western powers on Tuesday called on the Democratic Republic of Congo to restore internet access, which operators say was cut on government orders a day earlier following presidential elections. They also backed a request by the main Congolese election monitoring organisations to have …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir ordered authorities Tuesday to set up a committee to investigate violence during anti-government protests, even as a range of political groups called for a “new regime” in the country. At least 19 people have been killed and hundreds wounded in protests …

Lusaka, Zambia | AFP | Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Monday sacked the army commander and his deputy, a rare firing of the top military brass in the country. He did not give reasons for removing Lieutenant-General Paul Mihova but cautioned his successor, William Sikazwe, not to abuse the authority …

Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Gabon’s President Ali Bongo on Monday addressed his compatriots for the first time since suffering a stroke on October 24, in a New Year’s message recorded in Morocco and distributed via social and traditional media. “It is true that I have been through a difficult …

N’Djamena, Chad | AFP | Chad’s President Idriss Deby said Monday that repeatedly postponed legislative and local elections in the central African state will be held in the first half of 2019. It will be the poor, oil-rich state’s first legislative elections since 2011. The vote had originally been scheduled …

Niamey, Niger | AFP | Ten troops have been killed on Niger’s border with Nigeria in a joint operation by the two countries against “bandits”, Nigerien Defence Minister Kalla Moutari said on Monday. “Five Nigerien and five Nigerian” troops and 11 enemy fighters were killed in the operation, launched against …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | A former finance minister of Mozambique, who approved secret loans that plunged the country into a crisis, has been arrested in South Africa awaiting extradition to the United States, police said Monday. Manuel Chang, 63, was “arrested on Saturday for… USA extradition”, national police …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday began counting ballots from a presidential election marked by delays and fears of violence and vote-rigging, straining hopes for its first-ever peaceful transfer of power. Sunday’s elections went ahead after two years of delays and sporadic clashes …

Beni, DR Congo | AFP | Thousands of voters, weary from frequent armed attacks and an ongoing Ebola outbreak, proudly cast ballots in a northeastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo — even though they will count for nothing. Citing security and health fears, the country’s national electoral commission …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday began a tense wait for the results of a volatile presidential election which could see the first peaceful transfer of power in decades. Sunday’s elections went ahead in “relative calm”, according to the country’s influential Catholic Bishop …