AFRICA

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP |  Riot police in Zimbabwe on Friday fired teargas and beat demonstrators who defied a protest ban, as the opposition accused President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government of surpassing Robert Mugabe’s regime in brutality. Scores of people gathered in a square in the capital Harare to demonstrate against the …

Kampala, Uganda | AFP | Uganda and Zambia on Friday denied a report that employees of Chinese telecom giant Huawei had helped them spy on political opponents. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported this week that Huawei technicians helped the two African governments intercept communications and social media activity of their …

Bukavu, DR Congo | AFP | A woman has died of Ebola and her infant son was diagnosed with the virus in the first confirmed cases in DR Congo’s South Kivu province, reviving fears Friday the highly contagious disease could spread through the region. The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ebola epidemic …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  A Kenyan court on Friday sentenced two rugby players to 15 years in prison for the gang rape of a female singer at a birthday party last year. The international rugby sevens players Frank Wanyama, 24, and Alex Olaba, 23, were earlier this month found …

Loisaba , Kenya | AFP |  For most of his life as a Samburu warrior, Lesaiton Lengoloni thought nothing of hunting giraffes, the graceful giants so common a feature of the Kenyan plains where he roamed. “There was no particular pride in killing a giraffe, not like a lion… (But) a …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudan’s military rulers and protest leaders on Saturday are scheduled to sign a landmark deal reached after a bloody uprising which is meant to pave the way for civilian rule. The ceremony will officialise a constitutional declaration inked on August 4 between the country’s Transitional Military …

Ibadan, Nigeria | AFP |  When six-year-old Naziru Abdulwahab was abducted from northern Nigeria, his kidnapper transported him across the country and tried to sell him — but the potential buyer backed out. What saved the boy from the child-smuggling rings, police said, was the traditional facial scarrings on his cheeks …

UN appoints new HIV/AIDS chief after controversy United Nations, United States | AFP |  United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres appointed a new HIV/AIDS chief on Wednesday after the previous incumbent left accused of serious mismanagement. Oxfam International executive director Winnie Byanyima of Uganda will lead UNAIDS, a spokesperson for …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  Four years ago, South African fashion designer Innocent Molefe, 38, was diagnosed with tuberculosis. A year ago, it developed into multi-drug resistant strain requiring painful injections and heaps of pills. Three months after the first round of treatment, he relapsed and started a second round. At the …

Dakar, Senegal | AFP | When Senegal’s Muslim families gather for the biggest Islamic religious feast of the year, they often encourage the Christian minority to join them in a tradition of tolerance rare in West Africa. Many Roman Catholics in Dakar were invited Monday to join Muslim friends for Tabaski, …