AFRICA

Bangui, Central African Republic | AFP | Pope Francis has brought fresh hopes of peace to the war-ravaged Central African Republic, with Christians and Muslims praising his decision to name Bangui’s archbishop a cardinal as a step to ending sectarian violence. Aged only 49, Archbishop Dieudonne Nzapalainga will be the …

Kigali, Rwanda | AFP |  Rwandan leader Paul Kagame warned Monday of a “showdown” with Paris after French investigators last week said they would reopen a probe into the genocide-triggering assassination of president Juvenal Habyarimana. The shooting down of Habyarimana’s French-crewed plane on April 6, 1994, kickstarted the genocide that …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerian judges will hold emergency talks Tuesday following the “deeply regrettable” detention of several judges by secret police in a corruption probe, the country’s chief justice said Monday. At least seven judges were detained by Nigerian security forces over the weekend in connection with allegedly …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP |  Ethiopia said Monday that “foreign enemies” like Egypt were behind an unprecedented wave of protests that has prompted the government to declare a six-month state of emergency. Ethiopia’s government is facing the biggest challenge of its 25 years in power, with anti-government protests spreading, …

Goma, DR Congo | AFP | At least 10 people were killed Sunday night in clashes between the army and suspected Ugandan rebels in east DR Congo, activists said, in an area that has suffered a string of massacres since 2014. “Suspected ADF (Allied Democratic Forces) attacked Beni from the …

Maputo, Mozambique | AFP | A senior member of Mozambique’s main opposition party Renamo who was negotiating in key peace talks with the government has been shot dead by unidentified gunmen, his party said Sunday. Jeremias Pondeca was killed on Saturday as he was out jogging. The announcement of his …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP | As Egypt braces for austerity reforms, the military has expanded its economic role, at times helping President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi assuage the impact of rising prices on the country’s poor. For decades, the military — which produced all but one president since 1952 — has …

  Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Burundi announced plans Friday to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), a week after the UN began an enquiry into human rights abuses committed since April 2015. “It is perfectly clear that this is a plot to do harm to Burundi,” said Gaston …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Anti-government protesters in Ethiopia have turned their anger on foreigners, torching tourist resorts and foreign-owned factories in the restive Oromia region, local media reported Friday. At least 11 companies, including textile and plastic factories, were torched in recent days in the town of Sebeta …

Paris, France | AFP |  French investigators have reopened their probe into the 1994 genocide-triggering assassination of a Rwandan president to question a dissident general who has accused the country’s current head of state of orchestrating the killing, AFP learnt Friday. After a French-crewed plane carrying Juvenual Habyarimana was shot …