AFRICA

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso | AFP | Ten police officers were killed and three wounded in an ambush in northwestern Burkina Faso on Thursday, the west African country’s security ministry said. “The toll is 10 officers who have lost their lives and three wounded,” the ministry said in a statement, adding …

Bukavu, DR Congo | AFP | Thousands of people in DR Congo turned out to welcome Nobel Peace Prize laureate Denis Mukwege, the surgeon who helps women recover from the trauma of rape. “We won! We won!” sang Mamy Magasine as she improvised a celebratory rumba in a rain-soaked courtyard …

Beni, DR Congo | AFP | Patients being monitored as possible Ebola patients fled a camp in eastern DR Congo on Thursday after it was attacked by demonstrators protesting further delays to the country’s election, the health ministry said. Around 20 patients fled the centre during the incident, at a …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Egypt’s foreign minister on Thursday voiced support for Sudan’s embattled government, as Khartoum grapples with demonstrations against price hikes in which a disputed number of protesters have been killed. Cairo’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and intelligence chief General Abbas Kamel arrived in Sudan’s capital on …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | A network of Sudanese journalists went on strike Thursday in the wake of deadly protests sparked by a hike in bread prices, while opposition groups called for further rallies. Angry crowds have taken to the streets in the capital Khartoum and several other cities since …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | A Burundian court has acquitted three civil rights activists who had been handed 10-year jail terms for undermining state security, their organisation said Thursday. The decision is a rare victory for rights activists in the troubled nation. Emmanuel Nshimirimana, Aime Constant Gatore and Marius Nizigiyimana, …

Antananarivo, Madagascar | AFP | Former Madagascan president Andry Rajoelina has beaten his rival and predecessor Marc Ravalomanana in an election beset by allegations of fraud from both sides, the electoral commission said Thursday. Rajoelina has returned to power after he won 55.66 percent against 44.34 percent for Ravalomanana, it …

Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Gabon’s President Ali Bongo will deliver a speech on New Year’s Day, a source close to his entourage said Wednesday, in what will be the leader’s first public address since he had a stroke in October. The 59-year-old leader has not been back to Gabon …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Egypt’s deposed president Hosni Mubarak on Wednesday asked current President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi for “permission” to disclose sensitive information in the retrial of ousted Islamist leader Mohamed Morsi. Toppled in 2011 after mass protests against his nearly 30-year-rule, Mubarak took the witness stand in a …

Kasserine, Tunisia | AFP | Clashes between Tunisian protesters and security forces spread from an impoverished western city overnight, authorities said Wednesday, as anger grew over the death of a journalist who set himself on fire over economic conditions. In the western city of Kasserine, police fired tear gas at …