AFRICA

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania| PPU| President Museveni on Saturday assumed the chair of the East African Community (EAC), with the head of state making an impassioned plea for East African integration. Speaking at the 18th Ordinary Summit of the of the Heads of State at Dar es Salaam State House minutes …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP |  There were emotional scenes Saturday as 82 kidnapped Chibok girls released by Boko Haram Islamists earlier this month were reunited with their parents. At the reunion held in Nigeria’s capital of Abuja, fathers gripped their daughters in tight hugs, while mothers shrieked with joy, wiping …

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | AFP |  The presidents of Tanzania and Uganda called Saturday on the EU to lift sanctions on Burundi, but a diplomatic for the European bloc dismissed the appeal. The joint plea, by Yoweri Museveni and John Magufuli came at a meeting of the East African …

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni has taken over chairmanship of the  East African Community (EAC) from Tanzania’s  John Pole Magufuli with a promise to harmonize the region’s vision on the EU-EAC Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) “I failed to find a solution for EAC EU trade deal but I am optimistic President Museveni will …

Tunis, Tunisia | AFP |  Imed Trabelsi, a nephew of toppled Tunisian dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, apologised to the Tunisian people on national television Friday for the endemic corruption during the regime. In his testimony to the Truth and Dignity Commission (IVD), a tribunal established after the 2011 …

UPDF spokesman: Our mission was very specific, to neutralise the LRA Obo, Central African Republic | AFP | Sweat soaks into the bright red neckerchiefs of the soldiers slouching to attention on a steamy parade ground deep in the inaccessible forests of Central African Republic (CAR). The military display marked the …

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | An unlicensed Ebola vaccine could soon be tested in a remote region of the Democratic Republic of Congo hit by an outbreak of the virus, the World Health Organization said Thursday. There is no licensed vaccine for the Ebola virus, but a promising candidate vaccine …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP |  Dozens of prisoners escaped from a jail in Democratic Republic of Congo early Friday, less than 48 hours after rebels attacked Kinshasa’s main prison, freeing their leader and 50 others. “Among the 74 prisoners housed in the dilapidated prison in Kasangulu, 68 escaped,” local …

Gao, Mali | AFP | President Emmanuel Macron visited French troops fighting jihadists in conflict-torn Mali on Friday and urged faster progress on a peace accord signed in 2015. At the end of his first week in office, Macron flew into Gao, a city in Mali’s deeply-troubled north, where he …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP |  Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court, will not join an Islamic summit in Saudi Arabia with US President Donald Trump, his office said Friday. “President Omar al-Bashir has apologised to King Salman of Saudi Arabia for being unable to …