AFRICA

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | A witch’s brew of unemployment, inequality and poverty, mixed with South Africa’s violent past, are to blame for attacks on foreigners that so tarnished the country’s image last month, experts say. The deadly assaults rocked South Africa’s relations with its neighbours but especially with Nigeria, …

Rabat, Morocco | AFP |  Moroccan journalist Hajar Raissouni was sentenced in a Rabat court Monday to one year in jail for an “illegal abortion” and sexual relations outside marriage, provoking a storm of protest from rights groups. In a case that has sparked widespread debate on personal and media freedoms …

  Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | The Al-Shabaab militant group has claimed responsibility for an attack on a US base in Somalia on Monday, as a security officer confirmed a separate strike against a convoy of EU advisers. The militants hit the US base at Baledogle, about 110 kilometres (70 miles) …

Paris, France | AFP | Goal scorers Riyad Mahrez, Karl Toko-Ekambi and Jamilu Collins were among the African players who starred at the weekend in the major European leagues. Algerian Mahrez curled a free-kick into the net to give Manchester City the lead a second time at Everton en route to …

  Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | After weeks of delays Zimbabwe’s former ruler Robert Mugabe was finally buried over the weekend, closing a battle between the state and his family over the fate of his remains. Mugabe was buried at the weekend in a low-key private ceremony at his natal village. …

Yaoundé, Cameroon | AFP | Cameroon launched a national dialogue on Monday in a bid to end a separatist conflict in the country’s anglophone provinces, though key rebel leaders have already refused to participate. Nearly 3,000 people have died and half a million fled their homes since fighting broke out in …

Chéserex, Switzerland | AFP | A Swiss auction of 25 supercars seized from the playboy son of Equatorial Guinea’s president fetched 21.6 million euros ($23.6 million) Sunday — substantially more than expected. The money made from the Geneva auction will go to charities helping the poorest people in the tiny …

  Dakar, Senegal | AFP |  Senegal’s President Macky Sall has pardoned former Dakar mayor and political rival Khalifa Sall, who had been sentenced to prison for fraudulent use of public funds, the presidency announced Sunday. Khalifa Sall, no relation of the president, has been in jail since March 2017 …

Tripoli, Libya | AFP |  In Libya, where rival forces are deadlocked south of Tripoli, a months-long battle for the skies between Turkish and UAE drones has failed to break the stalemate, analysts say. Since April 4, when eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar launched an offensive to capture Tripoli — the capital …

Cotonou, Benin | AFP |  Dozens of baskets brimming with newly-picked tomatoes gently rot in the sticky heat, becoming the latest casualty in a bout of trade tension between Benin and Nigeria. On August 19, President Muhammadu Buhari unexpectedly closed Nigeria’s borders to goods trade with Benin and Niger, declaring the …