AFRICA

Juba, South Sudan | AFP | South Sudan’s parliament has passed a $300 million (250 million euro) budget despite the war-torn country’s government conceding it lacked the funds to pay for it. Nearly four years of civil war, as well as inadequate and decrepit infrastructure, have left the country with few …

Thursday, 4pm Uganda ??  vs Egypt ?? Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Cranes striker Farouk Miya is confident Uganda Cranes will build on their strong start to the 2018 World Cup qualifiers despite recent changes to the team’s coaching staff. Speaking to FIFA.com, Miya said the departure of coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic and arrival of Moses …

Lusaka, Zambia | AFP | Zambia’s main opposition leader on Tuesday vowed to forgive his political opponents and not seek revenge following four months in jail for allegedly failing to give way to the presidential motorcade. Hakainde Hichilema addressed a prayer meeting two weeks after his release from prison telling thousands …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir on Tuesday pardoned a leading human rights activist who was facing trial on charges of spying for foreign embassies, state media reported. Mudawi Ibrahim Adam, an engineering professor at the University of Khartoum, was arrested by security forces in December as part …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  Kenya’s Supreme Court judges completed on Tuesday their hearing of an opposition challenge to the August 8 poll and said a ruling will be delivered on Friday. Opposition leader Raila Odinga argued the presidential poll was rigged and took his case to the court, challenging …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | A court in Sudan convicted a university student on Tuesday of killing a policeman during protests in the capital last year, a defence lawyer told AFP. Asim Omer, who was studying at Khartoum University, was arrested in December and charged with killing the policeman after hundreds …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | The former wife of South African President Jacob Zuma on Tuesday dismissed criticism that her bid to succeed him in office is a strategy to protect him from criminal prosecution. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the former chief of the African Union, is a leading candidate to replace …

Malabo, Equatorial Guinea | AFP |  Equatorial Guinea said Monday it has demanded 73 million euros from French oil giant Total over “fraud” in fuel sales made between 2010 and 2012. “Following an investigation, we found a suspicious and fraudulent situation,” said Finance Minister Miguel Egonga Obiang as he announced …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | A South African legal rights group on Monday took the government to court in a campaign pressing for new legislation to recognise Muslim marriages as legally valid. The Women’s Legal Centre (WLC) said it was lobbying against “unfair discrimination” as South African law does not …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Five South African men charged over suspected cannibalism appeared briefly in court on Monday as scores of angry protesters gathered outside, police said. The men from the rural town of Escourt, in KwaZulu-Natal province, were arrested over a week ago after one handed himself in …