The horn player with a shrewd ear for music of the day Johannesburg, South Africa | GWEN ANSELL | Trumpeter, flugelhorn-player, singer, composer and activist Hugh Ramapolo Masekela has passed away after a long battle with prostate cancer. When he cancelled his appearance last year at the Johannesburg Joy of Jazz …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africans were on tenterhooks Wednesday as their scandal-tainted President Jacob Zuma was expected to respond to his party’s decision to “recall” him from office in an atmosphere of growing political turmoil. The embattled president, who could be ousted in a parliamentary vote of …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s ruling ANC party was locked in closed-door discussions on Monday night, wrangling over the fate of Jacob Zuma after the scandal-tainted president refused to resign. The party’s powerful 107-member national executive committee (NEC) met at a hotel outside Pretoria, but gave no official …

Nantes, France | AFP | A hundred years ago in World War One, a group of American soldiers stormed Europe — not to the boom of guns, but the swinging rhythm of saxophones, drums and horns. They came to fight in the mud against the Germans in a war approaching …

Kuwait City, Kuwait | AFP | Iraq needs $88.2 billion to rebuild after years of war against the Islamic State group, Planning Minister Salman al-Jumaili said Monday, as an international conference on the country’s reconstruction opened in Kuwait. Iraq hopes to raise billions of dollars in pledges at the three-day …

Dhaka, Bangladesh | AFP | A Myanmar government minister has told Rohingya refugees living in a makeshift camp on the Bangladesh border they should take up a government offer to return, warning they will face “consequences” if they stay where they are. A video circulated on social media apparently shows …

Frankfurt am Main, Germany | AFP | German sportswear firm Puma on Monday reported record revenues in 2017, with celebrity sparkle from Rihanna and the football World Cup set to maintain the leaping-cat brand’s appeal into 2018. Net profit at the Bavaria-based company more than doubled last year, reaching 135.8 …

East African biennale Kampala focuses on commonality Kampala, Uganda | DOMINIC MUWANGUZI | Art has a universal language. That is why five East African countries can showcase as part of the East Africa Art Biennale currently running at AKA Gallery in Kamwokya, Kampala. The artworks, by different artists, from different …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP | A major operation against jihadists in Egypt has killed 28 fighters in the Sinai Peninsula since it was launched by the military on Friday, the army said on Monday. Another 126 jihadists have been arrested since “Operation Sinai 2018” was launched in the Sinai across …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Hundreds of Boko Haram suspects were due back in court Monday to hear if they will be prosecuted, sentenced or released, as proceedings resumed at a military base in central Nigeria. The first major prosecutions of people arrested during the insurgency began last October, involving …