Juba, South Sudan | AFP | President Salva Kiir called Wednesday for a “national dialogue” to end the three-year-long civil war in South Sudan. In a speech to parliament, Kiir, whose wrangling for power with his former deputy Riek Machar plunged the world’s newest nation into a brutal, destructive and …

Fans of Group D, which comprises Egypt, Ghana, Uganda and Mali, will have to travel by boat or plane to the centre of the country’s oil and timber industries. Libreville, Gabon | AFP | Gabon insists it is ready to host the African Cup of Nations despite concern about the …

Banjul, Gambia | AFP | The Gambia’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) chairman Alieu Momar Njie has told AFP that he had not yet been informed why he was locked out of his own premises. He further dismissed Jammeh’s legal challenge of the IEC’s election result as unworkable because of the …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari proposed Wednesday a multi-billion dollar jump in spending designed to lift the nation out of the “most challenging economic situation” in its history. He pitched his NGN 7.3 trillion budget ($23 billion) proposal for 2017 — a 20 percent boost over …

Washington, United States | AFP | Amazon announced Wednesday it was extending its on-demand video streaming service to more than 200 markets, stepping up its challenge to Netflix as a global television network. The US online giant said its Prime Video would be available in “more than 200 countries and …

Osaka, Japan | AFP | Japan’s Kashima Antlers shocked South American champions Atletico Nacional 3-0 on Wednesday to reach the Club World Cup final, aided by a controversial first-ever penalty awarded by video referee. Nacional’s players reacted furiously after Hungarian referee Viktor Kassai referred to the new technology in Osaka …

New York, United States | AFP | US President-elect Donald Trump sat down Wednesday with top tech executives — including several of his sharpest critics — to mend fences after a divisive election in which the majority of Silicon Valley backed Hillary Clinton. The afternoon summit at Trump Tower comes …

New York, United States | AFP |  Vladimir Putin was the world’s most powerful person for a fourth straight year in 2016, with US president-elect Donald Trump in second place, Forbes magazine said Wednesday in its annual rankings. “Russia’s president has exerted his country’s influence in nearly every corner of …

  MUGABE: Positions in the party are not jumped upon. People rise slowly Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP |  Zimbabwe’s ageing President Robert Mugabe on Wednesday criticised ruling party officials for allegedly “bickering” over positions of power and jostling to succeed him. “Positions in the party are not jumped upon. People …

Tehran, Iran | AFP | Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani phoned his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday to congratulate him on the impending defeat of rebel forces in the battleground city of Aleppo, his website said. “The victory in Aleppo… constitutes a great victory for the Syrian people against terrorists …