AFRICA

Vatican City, Holy See | AFP |  Pope Francis will create 17 new cardinals from across the globe Saturday in a time-honoured ceremony, elevating them to an elite body that advises and elects popes. Three of them are from the US, while others come from corners of the world where …

Nsanje, Mozambique | AFP |  A Malawian man accused of sleeping with more than 100 girls and women in a series of traditional cleansing rituals was on Friday convicted by a court of “engaging in harmful practices”. Eric Aniva — who has said he is infected with the HIV virus …

United Nations, United States | AFP | The United States on Friday proposed that South Sudan’s rebel leader Riek Machar as well as the army chief and information minister face UN sanctions for their role in fueling violence in the war-torn country. The names of Machar, President Salva Kiir’s army …

Maputo, Mozambique | AFP |  At least 73 people were killed and 110 others injured Thursday when a truck carrying petrol blew up in western Mozambique near Malawi, the government said in a statement. “The incident occurred when citizens tried to take petrol from a truck” in the village of …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | DR Congo’s president on Thursday named an opposition lawmaker and former diamond dealer as prime minister under a controversial power-sharing deal that effectively extends President Joseph Kabila’s term in office. Samy Badibanga will be the country’s next prime minister, according to a presidential decree …

United Nations, United States | AFP | The United States on Thursday launched a bid at the Security Council to impose an arms embargo on South Sudan following UN warnings that the war-torn country could descend into genocide. US Ambassador Samantha Power said a draft resolution will be presented to …

Yumbe, Uganda | AFP | South Sudanese refugees in Uganda have described being forced to flee soaring ethnic violence at the hands of the South Sudanese army while avoiding forced conscription into rebel forces. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled the world’s newest country since renewed fighting broke out …

Middelburg, South Africa | AFP | Two white South African farmers briefly appeared in court on Wednesday on assault charges after an online video emerged showing them pushing a black man into a coffin and threatening to burn him alive. Willem Oosthuizen and Theo Martins Jackson, both 28, were remanded …

Miami, United States | AFP | Scientists have made progress toward a pill that lingers in the stomach and releases its contents over a span of two weeks, an advance that could boost the fight against malaria and other diseases, a study said Wednesday. The research, funded by the Bill …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  Kenya said on Wednesday it will delay by six months the closure of the Dadaab refugee camp, the world’s largest, after calls by the UN and aid groups to postpone it on humanitarian grounds. Interior minister Joseph Nkaissery said the move follows a request from …