AFRICA

Banjul, Gambia | AFP |  Veteran Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh announced a legal challenge to an election in which he had already conceded defeat, in a weekend of dramatic twists that sparked international furore and fear of a crackdown in the west African state. A week after conceding defeat to …

Libreville, Gabon | AFP |  A lawyer for the Gabon opposition leader Jean Ping, who is still disputing the re-election of President Ali Bongo, has been missing for three days, according to Ping’s team. Eric Iga Iga, one of two lawyers who represented Ping in Constitutional Court in September when …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP | A bombing in a Cairo church on Sunday near the headquarters of the Coptic pope killed at least 25 people, state media reported. It was the deadliest suspected attack on the country’s beleaguered Christian minority in recent memory. The explosion ripped through the church around …

UN Security Council demands Gambia’s Jammeh hand over power United Nations, United States | AFP | The UN Security Council on Saturday demanded that Gambia’s leader Yahya Jammeh hand over power to the president-elect after he rejected the election results in a dramatic political U-turn. In a unanimous statement, the …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | More than 30 people died when a fuel tanker crashed into other vehicles and burst into flames outside the town of Naivasha in Kenya late on Saturday night, officials said. “Over 30 people confirmed dead, many injured and over 11 vehicles burnt at a road …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP |  A church roof has collapsed in southeastern Nigeria causing “many deaths and injury” the country’s president said Saturday, with state media reporting that up to 200 people could have been killed. The evangelical Reigners Bible Ministry in Uyo, capital of Akwa Ibom state was packed …

Banjul, Gambia | AFP |  Gambian President-elect Adama Barrow on Saturday called on longtime leader Yahya Jammeh to drop his challenge to last week’s election results following a dramatic political U-turn that has prompted fears for the West African country. A week after conceding defeat, Jammeh on Friday declared he …

Paris, France | AFP | Wild giraffe numbers have plummeted by 40 percent in the last three decades, and the species is now “vulnerable” to extinction, a top conservation body warned Thursday. The population of the world’s tallest land mammal dropped to below 100,000 in 2015, mainly due to shrinking …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP |  Five candidates running for African Union chief took part Friday in the bloc’s first leadership debate, calling for more youth involvement in the grouping and greater integration between member nations. The candidates from Kenya, Senegal, Chad, Botswana and Equatorial Guinea took to the stage …

Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP |  Somalia’s top political leaders have announced the presidential election will be held on December 28, the fourth date so far set to conclude drawn-out, delayed and limited polls. The new timetable was laid out in a joint statement issued late Thursday by the government, the …