AFRICA

NOT SLEEPING: At 93, there is something that happens to the eyes and the President cannot suffer bright lights. If you look at his poise, he looks down, avoids direct lighting. Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP |  Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, 93, is not asleep when he closes his eyes for …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP |  Italian oil group Eni’s Nigerian subsidiary Agip is planning a 150,000-barrel per day refinery as part of efforts to reduce imports, junior oil minister Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu said. Kachikwu met representatives from Eni and said agreement had been reached to build the facility in the …

MTN, which has 60 million subscribers in Nigeria, says it is the largest distributor of music Lagos, Nigeria | AFP |  Phizbarz is only 23 but hopes to become the next Nigerian Afropop star to be famous across Africa — and to get himself known and earn a living, he’s using …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP |  Congolese President Joseph Kabila named an expanded new government on Tuesday, with almost all his old team retained, as part of power-sharing deal to end a crisis over his wish to remain in power. The presidential list of 60 ministers, read out on television, …

Juba, South Sudan | AFP |  South Sudan President Salva Kiir sacked his powerful, hardline army chief Paul Malong on Tuesday, a government spokesman said. General Paul Malong, long regarded as an ethnic nationalist of Kiir’s majority Dinka tribe, was replaced by General James Ajongo Mawut, a career soldier. South …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP |  Zimbabwe’s 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe has flown to Singapore for a “routine medical check-up”, state media reported Tuesday. “President Mugabe yesterday (Monday) left Zimbabwe for Singapore for his routine medical check-up,” The Herald newspaper reported. “He is expected back in Zimbabwe at the weekend.” The …

The President of the United Nations General Assembly Peter Thomson is on an African tour that will take him to Kenya, the Central African Republic and Uganda. Thomson arrives in Uganda on Thursday to visit the United Nations Regional Service Center in Entebbe to learn about its role in supporting regional peacekeeping …

UN worried about DRC. Up to 4,600 people flee their homes in DR Congo daily Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | An average of 4,600 people flee their homes every day in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN said Monday, warning of a dramatically deteriorating humanitarian situation in the country. A …

African countries asked to invest while keeping an eye on debt levels. The economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is rebounding in 2017 after registering the worst decline in more than two decades last year. According to the latest Africa’s Pulse, the World Bank’s bi-annual analysis of the state of African …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  A South African court Monday granted bail to a man charged with conspiracy to assassinate top politicians including President Jacob Zuma in an apparent bid to enforce a change of government. Elvis Ramosebudi, 33, allegedly approached private companies to fund his plot before he …