AFRICA

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | The first South African to be jailed for racist slurs went to court on Wednesday in a bid to appeal her conviction and three-year jail sentence. Former realtor Vicki Momberg, 49, was last month sentenced to three years with one year suspended after being …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Now that Muhammadu Buhari has ended months of suspense over whether he will seek re-election as Nigeria’s president, all eyes are on the ruling party to see whether it will give him a clear shot at the nation’s top job. Buhari made history in 2015 …

Ambo, Ethiopia | AFP | Ethiopia’s new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed paid a visit to a hotbed of anti-government protests Wednesday, asking residents for patience as he works to bring change to the Horn of Africa country. Abiy is the first prime minister to come from Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group …

Soweto, South Africa | AFP | Thousands of mourners flocked Wednesday to the heart of South Africa’s sprawling Soweto township, a centre of anti-apartheid resistance, to pay tribute to Nelson Mandela’s former wife and struggle hero Winnie Mandela. Her grandson Bambatha Mandela described Winnie, who died on April 2 after a …

Moscow, Russia | AFP | Russia and Egypt are to resume direct flights on Wednesday following a more than two-year hiatus after a bomb downed a Russian charter over the Sinai peninsula in 2015. Moscow officials stopped direct flights citing security concerns after the attack, in a major blow for …

What the Kenya earth collapse means for Uganda Kampala, Uganda | INDEPENDENT TEAM & AGENCIES | Western Uganda’s border will one day be one endless ocean shore with beaches similar to those at Mombasa and other coastal regions. This is one of the remarkable predictions being discussed since a large crack, stretching …

At least 17 people died on Tuesday after their bus plunged into a river in Kenya, local officials said. According to authorities the driver lost control while trying to avoid a head-on collision with an oncoming vehicle. The accident happened while the bus was travelling from western Homa Bay county …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir Tuesday ordered the release of political detainees, weeks after massive arrests in a crackdown on anti-government protests. Security agents arrested hundreds of opposition leaders, activists, protesters in January in an attempt to curb demonstrations over rising food prices, including bread. “President …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | It was a handshake that drew a line under Kenya’s bruising election, left many people bewildered and swung open the starting gate for the 2022 presidential race. After months of insults during a deadly and divisive election, the two heirs of Kenya’s most powerful political …

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso | AFP | A mayor in northern Burkina Faso has been shot dead by “unidentified armed individuals” in a zone bordering Mali repeatedly targeted by jihadists, security sources told AFP on Monday. Hamidou Koundaba, the mayor of the Koutougou department in Soum province, was “coldly killed” when …