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 …
Read More »10 troops killed in Niger border clash with ‘bandits’
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 …
Read More »S.Africa arrests Mozambique’s ex-finance minister for extradition to US
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 …
Read More »Tense DR Congo counts vote in presidential poll
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 …
Read More »Ebola, violence-weary DRC region proudly stages unofficial vote
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 …
Read More »DR Congo awaits result after volatile presidential election
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 …
Read More »Four killed in eastern DR Congo province: Tshisekedi campaign
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Four people including a police officer and an electoral official were killed Sunday in eastern South-Kivu province as the DR Congo voted in presidential elections, the campaign of opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi said. The officer and official were killed along with two civilians during …
Read More »Clashes in Chad gold-rush region ‘leave 30 dead’
N’Djamena, Chad | AFP | More than 30 people have died in northern Chad after Arab fighters, crossing from neighbouring Libya, attacked miners in a region in the grip of a gold rush, rights activists said Sunday. The clashes broke out on Thursday in the Kouri Bougoudi area of the …
Read More »Egypt court jails activist over ‘spreading false news’
Cairo, Egypt | AFP | An Egyptian appeals court on Sunday sent a rights activist to prison for two years over charges including “spreading false news”, her lawyer and a court official said. The court also fined Amal Fathi, who was released three days previously in another case, 10,000 Egyptian …
Read More »Voting winds up in volatile DRC’s long-awaited election
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | After two years of delays, the Democratic Republic of Congo voted Sunday in presidential elections that will determine the future of Africa’s notoriously unstable giant. The country’s Catholic Bishop Council said the voting took place in “relative calm”, based on their observations in 78 …
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