AFRICA

Gambia’s government has joined  South Africa and Burundi in announcing they are withdrawing from the International Criminal Court (ICC), accusing the Hague-based tribunal of prosecuting only Africans and ignoring the “war crimes” of Western countries. “The Government of the Islamic Republic of The Gambia hereby informs all and sundry, the withdrawal …

Luanda, Angola | AFP |  A group of Angolan lawyers has filed a landmark petition challenging veteran leader Eduardo dos Santos’s nomination of his daughter, Africa’s richest woman, as the head of the national oil company. Isabel dos Santos was named head of troubled oil firm Sonangol in June in …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  A bomb blast at a guesthouse in northeast Kenya killed at least 12 people on Tuesday, the same area hit earlier this month by Shabaab militants, police said. “We have found 12 bodies so far after we managed to access the building,” one senior police …

UN chief hopes South Africa will reconsider ICC withdrawal Dakar, Senegal | AFP |  The International Criminal Court on Monday urged member states to seek a consensus with critical African nations, while stressing that South Africa and Burundi’s announced departures would not take place for at least year. “Today more …

Palermo, Italy | AFP | More than 1,000 migrants sang hymns, danced and clapped as they sailed into Palermo on Monday, along with the corpses of 17 people who did not survive another series of tragedy-tainted rescues in the Mediterranean. Starting with the sick, women and children, several hundred of …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Monday commuted the sentences of 2,747 death row inmates, who will now serve life in prison. Kenyatta signed documents commuting the sentences during a ceremony at his official residence and also pardoned 102 convicts who were serving long jail terms. …

PICTORIAL: President Yoweri Museveni is in Lusaka Zambia where he will chief guest at Zambia’s 52nd, Independence anniversary celebrations on Monday. The President was given a 21-gun salute Sunday at the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport after being received by his host President Edgar Chagwa Lungu. Museveni is accompanied by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Okello Oryem, …

Ugandans edged out as Nigeria’s Wizkid, SA’s Semenya take top MTV awards Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Nigerian afro-pop star Wizkid and South Africa’s Olympic gold medallist Caster Semenya won top prizes at the 2016 MTV Africa Music Awards in Johannesburg on Saturday. Wizkid was named artist of the …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP |  President Omar al-Bashir on Saturday accused Amnesty International of spreading “lies” that Sudanese government forces had used chemical weapons against civilians in war-torn Darfur. Last month, Amnesty said in a report that Sudanese forces had carried out more than 30 suspected chemical weapons attacks in …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Somali pirates have freed 26 Asian hostages held for nearly five years after the hijacking of their fishing vessel, the last commercial ship seized at the height of the country’s piracy scourge, negotiators said Saturday. The crew of the Naham 3, the second longest held …