AFRICA

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP |  Sudan on Sunday threatened to shut its border with South Sudan used by refugees fleeing conflict if Juba failed to “fulfil its commitment” of expelling insurgent groups battling Khartoum. South Sudan split from Sudan in 2011 under a peace deal that ended a 22-year civil …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  Kenya’s fight to hold on to potentially lucrative Indian Ocean oil and gas reserves, threatened by a maritime border spat with Somalia, goes before the UN’s top court in The Hague on Monday. The hearings, due to last through the week, are the first stage …

Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | A senior Somali military commander and four of his security guards were killed when a suicide bomber rammed a car loaded with explosives into a military vehicle, officials and witnesses said. “There was a heavy blast caused by a car loaded with explosives alongside the …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP | An Egyptian court froze assets of five prominent human rights defenders and three non-governmental organisations on Saturday, provoking fears of an intensified crackdown on civil society. They had been under renewed investigation for allegedly receiving foreign funds in a case that stretches back to 2011 …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP |  A planned mass demonstration against Zimbabwe’s veteran President Robert Mugabe failed to kick off in the capital Harare on Saturday, as riot police patrolled the streets to enforce a protest ban. A coalition of opposition parties under the banner of the National Electoral Reform Agenda …

Libreville, Gabon | AFP | An internet curfew and social media blackout has sparked outrage and wreaked havoc on businesses in oil-rich Gabon, as citizens keenly await a pivotal ruling challenging President Ali Bongo’s contested re-election. “We are losing a lot of money,” fumed Steeve Ndong, who oversees the website …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP |  A Nigerian man whose pet dog shares the same name as Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday asked the court to dismiss criminal charges against him. In a statement sent by his lawyer, the owner of ‘Buhari’ the dog Joachim Iroko said he had a …

  Geneva, Switzerland | AFP |  Renewed fierce fighting has pushed nearly 200,000 people to flee South Sudan since July, sending the number of refugees from the war-scarred nation past one million, the UN said Friday. “The number of South Sudanese refugees sheltering in neighbouring countries has this week passed …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | As Kenya prepares to close the world’s largest refugee camp, a rights watchdog said the repatriation of Somalis from the sprawling Dadaab camp is based on misinformation and violates international standards. Human Rights Watch, which interviewed scores of people in the vast camp last month, …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe announced Thursday it will introduce next month “bond notes” equivalent to the US dollar, sparking fears of a return to the hyperinflation that wrecked the economy several years ago. The country, led by authoritarian President Robert Mugabe, adopted the US dollar and South African …