AFRICA

Maiduguri, Nigeria | AFP |  Maiduguri resident Ahmed Muhammed wanders through the rubble left behind as he recalls the outbreak of fighting in his city a decade ago that launched the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria. “We heard shooting — badadadadadada — here, there, everywhere around us,” the 44-year-old railway …

Tunis, Tunisia | AFP | Tunisia is gearing up for snap elections as early as September following the death of president Beji Caid Essebsi, amid uncertainty over who could step forward to run the North African country. Essebsi, the country’s first head of state elected in nationwide polls, died Thursday at …

Bethlehem, Palestinian Territories | AFP |  In his Bethlehem cellar, distiller Nader Muaddi made fewer than 500 bottles of his liquor last year but has won international accolades and now aims to help revive interest at home in the traditional drink. On the outskirts of the city famed for Jesus’s …

Banjul, Gambia | AFP |  Former members of a Gambian death squad known as the Junglers on Thursday accused ex-president Yahya Jammeh of ordering the murder of two US citizens in 2013, having already confessed to the killing of a well known journalist. Since Monday, Gambians have been gripped by live …

Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Charity group Action Against Hunger on Thursday demanded the release of six aid workers kidnapped in northeast Nigeria and held by jihadists aligned to the Islamic State group. The Paris-based charity said a staff member, two drivers and three health workers for one of its projects were …

  Doreen Robinson, the head of the Wildlife Unit at the UN Environment Programme was one of the co-organizers of the first ever Africa Wildlife Economy Summit held recently in the Zimbabwean town of Victoria Falls. She spoke to The Independent’s Ronald Musoke about what the conveners hoped to achieve …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudanese protest leaders and their rebel partners have ended their differences over a power-sharing deal signed with the country’s military rulers, vowing to work jointly for peace, a leading protest group said Thursday. On July 17, the umbrella protest movement signed a power-sharing accord with Sudan’s …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP |  Sudan’s military said Wednesday it had arrested a top general and several others over a foiled coup attempt announced earlier this month. It said the plot aimed to re-install the party of longtime leader Omar al-Bashir, who was ousted by the army in April after months …

Washington, United States | AFP | The World Bank announced Wednesday it was deploying another $300 million in crisis aid for DR Congo to help contain the year-old Ebola outbreak. The financing comes after the World Health Organization (WHO) last week declared the current outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International …

Kampala, Uganda | AFP |  Ugandan pop star turned leading opposition figure Bobi Wine on Wednesday officially announced he would take on veteran President Yoweri Museveni in 2021 national elections, vowing to fight corruption and create jobs. Wine has long hinted he would throw his hat into the ring and …