AFRICA

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP |  Diekoye Oyeyinka, 33, has been billed as one of the most promising Nigerian writers of his generation. He went to some of the finest schools in his West African homeland but says that like the majority of his classmates he “didn’t know about Biafra until …

Aboard a US military aircraft, Undefined | AFP | The United States will make a decision on the level of its presence in Africa, particularly in the Sahel region, in about two months, Washington’s top military officer said Thursday. Washington has some 7,000 special forces on rotation in Africa carrying out …

Malawi anti-bribery protest draws thousands Lilongwe, Malawi | AFP |  Tens of thousands of Malawians took part in protests on Thursday at alleged attempts to bribe judges overseeing a legal challenge to the re-election last year of President Peter Mutharika. People took to the streets after the country’s chief justice …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP |  English-speaking West African countries on Thursday criticised a move to rename the CFA franc used by former French colonies, saying the move jarred with plans to introduce a region-wide currency of the same name. Members of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) Convergence Council said …

Isabel dos Santos says run for president ‘possible’ Luanda, Angola | AFP | The billionaire daughter of Angola’s ex-president, Isabel dos Santos, says she would consider running for president in the next election in 2022. Dos Santos is being probed under an anti-graft campaign launched by her father’s successor President …

Banjul, Gambia | AFP |  Thousands of supporters of Gambia’s former dictator Yahya Jammeh demonstrated Thursday on the outskirts of the capital Banjul, demanding his return from exile. The protest came days after the former autocrat was heard in a leaked audio recording insisting that the tiny West African state …

Bangui, Central African Republic | AFP |  The unexpected return of two former presidents to the Central African Republic, the main figures in a civil war that still bloodies the country despite an 11-month-old peace accord, has set the stage for high-stakes political chess ahead of elections in December. Francois Bozize, …

Cousin Island, Seychelles | AFP |  Giant tortoises amble across Cousin Island as rare birds flit above. The scene attests to a stunning success for BirdLife International, a conservation group that bought the tiny Seychelles isle in 1968 to save a songbird from extinction. Thick vegetation smothers ruins that are the only …

Washington, United States | AFP | Ethiopia made progress with Egypt and Sudan in US-brokered talks in easing concerns over a hotly contested mega-dam on the Nile, with a tentative agreement to fill it only during the rainy season. The three countries had set a deadline of Wednesday to reach …

Lome, Togo | AFP | After he was struck down by malaria and typhoid, Togolese tailor Ayawo Hievi thought he was set to recover when he started taking drugs prescribed by his doctor. But far from curing him, the medication he was given at the neighbourhood clinic made him far …