AFRICA

The devil lies in the complicated negotiations for implementation | Yinka Adegoke | May 30, 2019 was a notable date in African economic history as the day the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) came into effect, after which it comes to market on July 7. In a nutshell, it …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | The Sudanese movement whose protests triggered the ouster of autocrat Omar al-Bashir called Monday on its supporters to renew night-time rallies to condemn the “massacre” of demonstrators at a Khartoum sit-in. Thousands of protesters who had camped outside the Khartoum military headquarters for weeks were violently …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi died on Monday in a Cairo hospital after fainting during a session in court, judicial and security sources said. “He was speaking before the judge for 20 minutes then became very animated and fainted. He was quickly rushed to the hospital …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  Kenya sought to reassure the public and foreign visitors on Monday after a suspected Ebola case, which turned out to be negative, was detected near the border with Uganda. Uganda last week reported three cases of Ebola, two of them fatal, among people who had …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | A US politician who blamed pilot error for contributing to the deadly crash of a Boeing 737 Max flown by Ethiopian Airlines was “seriously misinformed”, the carrier’s boss has said. Republican Sam Graves told a House of Representatives hearing last month that “facts” in investigations …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP |  The Democratic Republic of Congo’s new leadership is under mounting pressure to diversify the country’s economy from its dependence on raw materials following the plunge in the price of cobalt. Economic experts currently visiting the country have a sobering figure on which to base …

Zarzis, Tunisia | AFP | The Tunisian trawler radioed in for help as it passed the migrant boat in distress out at sea. But with the packed craft still adrift two days later, captain Chamseddine Bourassine took direct action. Fishermen from the North African country are spending more and more time …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Ousted Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir is to appear in court next week to face charges of corruption and illegal possession of foreign currency, the acting prosecutor general announced on Saturday. The announcement came more than two months after the military overthrew Bashir following mass nationwide protests …

Lilongwe, Malawi | AFP |  Fearing persecution after being outed as gay, Aniz Mitha fled Malawi. Leaving behind his well-off Muslim family and four-year-old son, he headed for South Africa, where he became a sex worker to survive. “The laws that we have in Malawi are incriminating. I wanted to …

Omdourman, Sudan | AFP | Sudan’s veteran opposition leader Sadiq al-Mahdi called on Friday for an “objective” international investigation into last week’s deadly crackdown on protesters, after the ruling military council rejected such a probe. Mahdi’s call was backed by top US envoy Tibor Nagy, who urged an “independent and credible” …