Luanda, Angola | AFP | Angola on Thursday passed a law scrapping rules that previously forced foreign investors to partner with local firms, as President Joao Lourenco tries to revive the oil-dependant economy. Lourenco has vowed to pull in foreign investment after he succeeded Jose Eduardo dos Santos, who had ruled …

Washington, United States | AFP | The Syrian regime remains able to conduct chemical attacks, though only at a limited level, the Pentagon said Thursday following last week’s international cruise missile strikes on chemical targets. General Kenneth McKenzie, director of the US military’s Joint Staff, said Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime …

Dakar, Senegal | AFP | Senegal’s parliament on Thursday passed a law setting a higher bar for presidential candidates after protests that saw police fire tear gas on demonstrators, with dozens arrested according to the main opposition party. The change to the electoral law, approved by 120 of the body’s 165 …

Paris, France | AFP | France’s highest administrative court has upheld a decision to deny a French passport to an Algerian Muslim who refused to shake hands with officials during her citizenship ceremony, according to a ruling seen by AFP Thursday. The woman argued that her “religious beliefs” prevented her from …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Queen Elizabeth II on Thursday openly voiced her wish for her son Prince Charles to succeed her as head of the Commonwealth as she opened the group’s summit for potentially the final time. Queen Elizabeth, who turns 92 on Saturday, welcomed leaders from the 53 …

Moroni, Comoros | AFP | The president of the Comoros has suspended the Constitutional Court, the highest court in the country, in a move immediately denounced by the opposition in the Indian Ocean island nation. President Azali Assoumani said the court was “disfunctional” due to the number of appointed judges being …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Chelsea kept their outside chances of chasing down Tottenham Hotspur for a place in next season’s Champions League alive as a much-changed side secured a 2-1 win at Burnley. At the other end of the table, Southampton crept closer to relegation as a 0-0 …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe warned Thursday that a string of strikes threatened efforts to revive the economy after the ousting of Robert Mugabe, as a stand-off with striking nurses deepened. The government on Tuesday sacked the majority of 15,000 nurses who started industrial action this week shortly after …

  Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The lower house of Burundi’s parliament has voted to allow security forces in the politically tense nation to conduct night raids without a search warrant. The draft law changing the criminal code was passed late Wednesday in the lower house, with 90 votes in …

Tripoli, Libya | AFP | Fuel smuggling is costing Libya more than $750 million each year and harming its economy and society, the head of the National Oil Company in the conflict-riddled country said. “The impact of fuel smuggling is destroying the fabric of the country,” NOC president Mustafa Sanalla …