AFRICA

Monrovia, Liberia | AFP | A massive cyber attack targeting Liberia’s single broadband link has taken the country’s internet intermittently offline for the last week, web security experts said Friday. The characteristics of the attack point to the same type of cyber weapon that crippled several major websites based in …

United Nations, United States | AFP | African countries on Friday demanded that the appointment of a new UN expert on LGBT rights be suspended, saying his mission to report on anti-gay violence had nothing to do with human rights. The UN Human Rights Council in late September appointed international …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  Kenya has deported the spokesman of South Sudan’s rebel chief Riek Machar, officials said Friday, despite rebels’ warning that forcibly returning him to the war-wracked country puts his life in danger. Senior rebel official Nyarji Roman said James Gatdet Dak had been arrested at his …

Bangui, Central African Republic | AFP |  The United Nations will do “everything in its power” to prevent further atrocities in the Central African Republic, a top UN official said on Thursday at the end of a three-day visit. UN Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson was addressing lawmakers in the capital …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South African President Jacob Zuma on Thursday faced increasing calls to resign after a damaging probe unearthed further evidence of alleged corruption at the top of the ANC government. The country’s anti-graft watchdog ordered a judicial inquiry into possible criminal activity in Zuma’s relationship …

United Nations, United States | AFP |  Kenya on Thursday accused the United Nations of bowing to pressure from certain countries by setting up an investigation that pinned the blame for peacekeeping failures in South Sudan on the Kenyan force commander. Ambassador Macharia Kamau charged that “certain current and future …

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | Uganda told the UN rights council on Thursday that it does not “tolerate” discrimination based on sexual orientation, a claim directly undermined by the government’s widely condemned record on gay rights. Foreign Minister Sam Kutesa also blamed British colonialism for laws that remain on Uganda’s …

United Nations, United States | AFP |  Angola said Wednesday that a date must be set for presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo that will allow a smooth handover of power from President Joseph Kabila. Angola and France will be leading a Security Council visit to the DR …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  Kenya announced Wednesday it was withdrawing from United Nations peacekeeping duties in South Sudan after UN chief Ban Ki-moon fired the Kenyan head of the force for failing to protect civilians. Continued deployment of Kenyan troops in South Sudan “is no longer tenable”, the foreign …

Pretoria, South Africa | AFP |  South Africa’s anti-corruption watchdog Wednesday called for prosecutors to investigate alleged criminal activity as it released a report into President Jacob Zuma that fuelled further calls for him to resign. Zuma, whose presidency has been engulfed by multiple scandals, had fought to block the …