AFRICA

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The morning light showed a scene of desolation as people in Ngaliema surveyed the wreckage of shanty homes swept away by killer floods and landslips. Among the 44 people who perished overnight Wednesday in Kinshasa, the capital of Democratic Republic of Congo, were a …

Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Equatorial Guinea has launched a dragnet for “mercenaries” behind an attempt to overthrow President Theodoro Obiang, Africa’s longest-serving leader, a senior government official said on Friday. Separately, Chad said an Equatorial Guinean, living in exile in Europe, is believed to have been behind the attempted coup. …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | A Zimbabwean court on Thursday set aside a case against an American journalist who was charged with insulting then-president Robert Mugabe on Twitter. Martha O’Donovan was charged with subversion and undermining or insulting Mugabe in an alleged tweet in October that described the ageing leader …

Lome, Togo | AFP | Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe broke his silence after months of protests against his rule, calling on the opposition to “dialogue” in his New Year address given late Wednesday. “Dialogue must remain the preferred way of resolving disagreements between political actors,” Gnassingbe said in an address on …

Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Somalia’s prime minister, Hassan Ali Khaire, fired three key ministers on Thursday after weeks of political conflict with opposition and clan leaders. Foreign Minister Yusuf Garad Omar, Trade Mminister Khadra Ahmed Duale and Interior Minister Abdi Farah Said all lost their jobs. No reason was …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | At least 12 people were killed and 180 injured in South Africa on Thursday when a passenger train collided with a truck and burst into flames, an official said, as rescuers searched for survivors. Images showed a fire engulfing several passenger carriages that were …

Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP |  Israel plans to force tens of thousands of African migrants to leave over the next three months by threatening to arrest those who stay, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday. Under the plan, some 38,000 migrants who entered Israel illegally, mainly Eritreans and Sudanese, will …

  Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP |  Ethiopia’s leader promised Wednesday to release “politicians” from jail and shut down a detention centre where human rights groups allege torture is routine. Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn made the undertaking in comments to reporters in the capital Addis Ababa, although he did not …

Lusaka, Zambia | THE INDEPENDENT | Zambia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kalaba has resigned, stating on facebook that he took the decision because of massive corruption in government and rising unemployment in the country. In a Facebook post, Kalaba said he has dumped his cabinet post. “There comes a time in a …

Washington, United States | AFP |  US forces in Somalia have conducted a strike against a bomb-laden vehicle that was going to be used against civilians in Mogadishu, the US military’s Africa Command said Wednesday. The strike against Al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab militants occurred early January 2 about 50 kilometers (30 miles) …