Juba, South Sudan | AFP | Aid workers that were raped during an attack on their compound in South Sudan must testify in-person against a group of soldiers on trial for the assault, a judge ruled Friday. The decision is the latest frustration for victims of the attack on the …
Read More »Kenya MP faces contempt charge for ethnic comments
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenyan police said on Friday they had arrested an opposition parliamentarian on suspicion of “ethnic contempt” over a public address he made ahead of next month’s tight presidential election. Junet Mohammed, a high-ranking member of leading opposition candidate Raila Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement, was taken …
Read More »Angola adopts law limiting power of future presidents
Luanda, Angola | AFP | Angola’s parliament passed a law on Friday that will drastically limit the powers of the country’s future presidents in matters of security and defence. The law will only apply to successors of the current head of state, President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who has enjoyed …
Read More »Tanzanian opposition figure held after denouncing President Magufuli
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Tanzanian opposition number two Tundu Lissu was arrested on Thursday, three days after having called President John Magufuli a “dictator”, party sources said. No reasons were given for the arrest of Lissu, a member of the main opposition party Chadema who serves as …
Read More »US praises Sudan counter-terror efforts
Washington, United States | AFP | The United States on Thursday praised Sudan’s efforts in fighting terrorism ahead of a decision expected in October on whether to lift decades-old sanctions on Khartoum. “The United States notes Sudan’s improved counterterrorism efforts through enhanced interagency and international cooperation to address the threat …
Read More »Africa Cup of Nations expands to 24 teams for 2019
Rabat, Morocco | AFP | The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations will expand from 16 to 24 teams and be staged in June and July, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced on Thursday. The tournament has traditionally been held in January and February, with the timing of the tournament …
Read More »Kenya court overturns ruling on presidential ballot contract
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenya’s appeals court on Thursday quashed a ruling cancelling a contract to print presidential ballot papers, a victory for the electoral commission less than three weeks before general elections. The decision comes two weeks after the high court ordered the electoral commission to start a …
Read More »Tanzanian leader Magufuli urges Burundian exiles to go home
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Tanzanian President John Magufuli on Thursday called on Burundians who have fled their country to return home, after talks with President Pierre Nkurunziza who was making his first foreign trip in more than two years. The visit — kept secret up to the last moment …
Read More »Burundi leader Nkurunziza in Tanzania for first foreign trip in two years
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza arrived in Tanzania on Thursday for his first foreign trip in more than two years, seeking to revive political dialogue on the crisis in his country. Nkurunziza arrived with a heavily armed escort in the northwest Tanzanian town of Ngara, about 15 kilometres (eight miles) from …
Read More »Libya’s NOC sees 1.25 mln bpd oil output by year-end
Benghazi, Libya | AFP | The head of Libya’s National Oil Company announced on Wednesday that oil production is expected to reach 1.25 million barrels per day by the end of 21017. NOC president Mustafa Sanalla said, however, that “despite a surge of more than one million bpd” oil production would …
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