AFRICA

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo have exposed more than 200 unqualified magistrates, an official source said Tuesday. A commission of enquiry formed in October to probe the qualifications and recruitment conditions of more than 3,000 magistrates found that hundreds “should not be …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s military was on Tuesday accused of ignoring repeated warnings about the movements of Boko Haram fighters before they kidnapped 110 schoolgirls in the country’s restive northeast. The students — the youngest of whom is aged just 10 — were seized from the town of …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | A government crackdown on demonstrations against President Joseph Kabila in Democratic Republic of Congo has led to the killing of 47 people in just over a year, a UN report seen by AFP said Monday. “Between 1 January 2017 and 31 January 2018, at …

N’Djamena, Chad | AFP | Chad on Monday was due to start discussing sweeping constitutional reforms including presidential term limits in a country ruled with an iron fist by Idriss Deby since a 1996 coup. A so-called “national forum” comprising some 700 participants, including ruling party figures, members of civil society …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Monday named hundreds of mines, Chinese businesses and individuals who had illegally transferred foreign currency abroad during Robert Mugabe’s rule and warned they would be prosecuted. The announcement came after the expiry of a three month amnesty for the return of …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | A private jet used by a business family at the heart of corruption allegations against former South African president Jacob Zuma was grounded Monday by a court order, according to court documents. The whereabouts of the Bombadier Global 6000 jet is unknown, but the …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Africa’s leaders will gather in Rwanda Wednesday to launch what they say will be the world’s largest free trade area but Nigeria has already pulled out, highlighting the challenge in getting the continent to sign up. Establishing the African Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) with …

Leer, South Sudan | AFP | Nyakol was 15, healthy and strong when South Sudanese soldiers attacked her hometown of Leer, forcing her to flee with her mother into the surrounding swamps. Not for the first time, government troops tore through the northern rebel stronghold, killing, kidnapping and raping, so …

Obo, Central African Republic | AFP | Refugees seeking safety from the atrocities of South Sudan’s unending conflict cross the border only to find themselves in one of Africa’s most war-torn and poorest countries. Neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR) has been ravaged by armed groups vying to control the vast …

Antananarivo, Madagascar | AFP | A powerful tropical storm which swept through Madagascar has left 17 people dead and affected thousands of others, according to an official toll published on Sunday. Storm Eliakim packed winds of up to 105 kilometres (65 miles) an hour after hitting the northeast of the …