Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Pravin Gordhan, who was sacked late Thursday, is liked and admired by many ordinary South Africans — an unusual achievement for any finance minister. He held onto the purse strings for longer than many analysts expected after he was parachuted into the job in …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South African President Jacob Zuma has come under fire from both his own party and the opposition over a cabinet reshuffle in which he fired his internationally respected finance minister. Zuma is no stranger to scandal. Here are five of his biggest career controversies: – …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | The backlash against South African President Jacob Zuma’s shock reshuffle has intensified pressure on him to resign ahead of the 2019 general election. Here are four of his possible successors: – The negotiator – Cyril Ramaphosa, a 64-year-old veteran with strong anti-apartheid struggle credentials, …

Stockholm, Sweden | AFP | Swedish and Norwegian newspapers on Friday said they would refrain from the tradition of publishing April Fools’ Day jokes this year over fears that it might spread “fake news”. Magnus Karlsson, editor-in-chief at the daily Smalandsposten said on its website that he doesn’t want the newspaper’s …

Shanghai, China | AFP | State-owned Chinese energy giant PetroChina on Thursday announced it slumped to a record-low profit for 2016 as global oil price weakness slashed earnings by 78 percent. Net profit fell to 7.86 billion yuan ($1.1 billion), the Beijing-based company said in a statement to the Hong Kong …

MTN pays $98 million part of Nigerian fine: officials Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | South African telecoms giant MTN has paid nearly $100 million of a $1.7 billion fine for failing to disconnect unregistered SIM cards in Nigeria, officials said on Friday. “MTN has paid 30 billion naira ($98 million, 92 …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Ethiopia’s parliament on Thursday approved a four month extension of a state of emergency that was first imposed in October to quell nearly a year of anti-government protests. “The House unanimously voted to extend the state of emergency,” said a report carried by state …

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | Cases of depression have ballooned almost 20 percent in a decade, making the debilitating disorder linked to suicide the leading cause of disability worldwide, the World Health Organization said Thursday. By 2015, the number of people globally living with depression, according to a revised definition, …

Hearing of the bail application of four men, on remand for the alleged murder of Maj. Muhammad Kiggundu and his body guard Sgt. Steven Mukasa, did not take off due to unfinished investigations. Justice Wilson Kwesiga adjourned the Kampala High Court matter Thursday on the request of prosecution’s Babra Masinde …

United Nations, United States | AFP | The United Nations Security Council will vote Friday to cut the number of troops in its peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. US ambassador Nikki Haley said the force’s currently authorized strength of 19,815 would be cut by 3,600 — but …