Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | United Nations war crimes investigators on Tuesday said they were investigating fresh reports that chemical weapons were being used in rebel-held zones in war-ravaged Syria. The UN Commission of Inquiry on the human rights situation in Syria voiced alarm that it had received “multiple reports …

Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | A Somali military court on Tuesday sentenced a man to death after finding him guilty of carrying out an October truck bombing that killed over 500 people, the deadliest attack in the nation’s history. Colonel Hassan Ali Shute found 23-year-old Hassan Adan Isaq guilty of …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | A Kenyan government critic appeared in court Tuesday to face charges related to the mock inauguration of the “people’s president” Raila Odinga, as the authorities barred 14 opposition leaders from leaving the country. Protestors and police clashed in the opposition’s stronghold of western Kenya, and …

Cape Town, South Africa | AFP | Pressure is mounting on South Africa’s scandal-tarred president, Jacob Zuma, to leave office ahead of elections next year. Here are the ways by which he could leave office early: – Vote of no confidence – Zuma’s enemies have previously sought to topple him …

Malabo, Equatorial Guinea | AFP | Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema has reappointed his prime minister after dissolving the government last week. “Making use of the powers granted to me by law, I appoint Francisco Pascual Obama Asue as Prime Minister in charge of administrative coordination,” said a presidential …

Tunis, Tunisia | AFP | Human Rights Watch called on Morocco Tuesday to urgently reexamine the sentencing of an activist to five years in prison based on a confession that it said may have been coerced. El Mortada Iamrachen, a 31-year-old member of a protest movement in Morocco’s neglected northern …

Kananga, DR Congo | AFP | A militia chief accused of waging a weeks-long terror campaign in DR Congo’s Kasai region has surrendered to the authorities, a local official said Tuesday. “Chief Kalamba Dilondo came to Kakenge of his own accord (on Monday),” Jacopo Pembe Longo, administrator of Mweka territory …

Goma, DR Congo | AFP | Unidentified assailants stabbed 12 patients in their hospital beds in the restive DR Congo city of Goma, with fears it was the work of Ugandan Islamist rebels, officials said on Tuesday. Three of the victims were seriously hurt in the knife rampage overnight Sunday-Monday …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | London will host a new World Cup event this summer featuring eight top nations including the United States and Jamaica, British Athletics announced on Monday. Britain, the United States, Poland, China, Germany, France, Jamaica and South Africa will compete at the London Stadium on …

Cape Town, South Africa | AFP | Renewed optimism about South Africa’s mining future coursed through the industry this week, focused on hopes of pro-business reforms under the ruling party’s new leadership. The world’s largest mining investment conference started in Cape Town on Monday, as the ANC party met to …