AFRICA

Cairo, Egypt | AFP |  An Egyptian appeals court upheld on Saturday a 20-year sentence for ousted president Mohamed Morsi, the first final ruling in a string of trials for the deposed Islamist leader. The Court of Cassation also upheld sentences against eight of his codefendants, including seven who received …

Blantyre, Malawi | AFP |  Malawian President Peter Mutharika said Friday he was in “excellent health”, dismissing rumours of illness as he made his first comments after an extended trip to the United States. “I am not sick. I am still alive and I have more than nine lives,” the …

The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | The International Criminal Court — dealt a blow Friday with South Africa’s decision to withdraw from the tribunal — has launched nine investigations in eight African countries since its establishment in 2002. A 10th was opened in Georgia, the only country outside Africa. Here …

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso | AFP | Burkina Faso said Friday it thwarted a “vast conspiracy” earlier this month by forces loyal to ousted leader Blaise Compaore, which aimed to seize power in the impoverished Sahel state. The plot called for attacking the presidential palace and detaining “certain authorities”, said Interior …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | South Africa’s MTN has denied it illegally transferred $13.9 billion from Nigeria in the latest scandal to hit the telecom firm in its largest market in the continent. The Johannesburg-based firm is facing a parliamentary probe over accusations it connived with senior Nigerian officials to …

Pretoria, South Africa | AFP | South Africa announced Friday that it is withdrawing from the International Criminal Court, dealing a major blow to a troubled institution set up to try the world’s worst crimes. South Africa’s decision followed a dispute last year when Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir visited the …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP |  Africa’s economic growth is expected to dip this year before rebounding in 2017 to remain the world’s second fastest growing region after east Asia, the African Development Bank said Thursday. Africa’s growth in Gross Domestic Product is expected to fall to 1.9 percent this year …

Aweil, South Sudan | AFP | A serious food crisis in the north of South Sudan is reaching critical levels, as a biting drought across much of east Africa serves up even more woes for the troubled country. In Northern Bahr Al Gazal it is not the incessant cycles of …

The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | International judges on Wednesday found former Congolese vice president Jean-Pierre Bemba and four close aides guilty of bribing and corrupting witnesses in a bid to derail his landmark war crimes trial. The case was “about the clear, and downright criminal behaviour of the five …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  Kenya’s new chief justice was sworn in on Wednesday pledging to root out corruption in the judiciary. David Maraga, 66, replaces Willy Mutunga who took early retirement in June, triggering a parliamentary vetting process in which Maraga emerged as frontrunner out of a dozen candidates. …