AFRICA

United Nations, United States | AFP | A new bout of violence in the Central African Republic that has killed nine peacekeepers this year risks derailing years of efforts to restore a fragile stability, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Wednesday. Guterres condemned the killing of two Moroccan peacekeepers who were …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP |  Congolese rebel warlord Ntabo Ntaberi Sheka, wanted for crimes against humanity including mass rape, surrendered to UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Wednesday. Sheka was arrested in Mutongo, in the country’s North Kivu region by UN peacekeepers and was “transferred to …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP |  Egypt has created a “national council” to combat the rise of Islamist “terrorism” which has targeted its security forces and Coptic Christian minority, in a presidential decree issued on Wednesday. The decree, published in Egypt’s official gazette, sets up a “national council to combat terrorism …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP |  A Nigerian court has struck out a criminal case against a man who named his dog after President Muhammadu Buhari, his lawyer said on Wednesday. Joachim Iroko Chinakwe has been standing trial since August last year in Ota, southwest Nigeria, and admitted naming his pet …

Volcanoes National Park, Rwanda | AFP | Nicaraguan singer Hernaldo Zuniga brought his entire family to trek through the lush forests and mist-shrouded volcanoes of northwestern Rwanda in search of mountain gorillas. He described their encounter with the critically endangered primates as “an almost spiritual” experience, and said it was the …

Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Ten people were injured in Libreville Tuesday as Gabon police broke up a rally organised to mark the return of opposition leader Jean Ping following a trip to Europe. The interior ministry said there were “no deaths and no injuries” during the demonstration, according to …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell said Tuesday it has shut down a key crude supply pipeline in Nigeria’s restive south because of a leak. Shell subsidiary the Shell Petroleum Development Corporation of Nigeria Ltd (SPDC) said the Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP) was shut on July 21 …

Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania| AFRICAN ARGUMENTS |  Ever since his election in 2015, Tanzania’s President John Magufuli has been a subject of public fascination. At first, his war on graft promised to cleanse the state of corruption, while his patriotic thrift inspired the hashtag #WhatWouldMagufuliDo? But as this campaign of tumbua majipu (“lance the boils”) was …

Pretoria, South Africa | Zachary Donnenfeld | ISS TODAY | The government of Ethiopia is currently constructing the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). Once complete, the GERD will be the largest hydropower facility in Africa (about 6 000 MW) – nearly triple the country’s current electricity generation capacity – and represent a potential …

Luanda, Angola | AFP |  Angolan presidential candidate Joao Lourenco, who appears set to win next month’s election, launched his campaign on Tuesday with a speech vowing to tackle corruption and spread wealth. Defence minister Lourenco, 63, is the chosen successor of President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, whose decision to …