AFRICA

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” …

  Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The World Health Organization said Friday that the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo does not qualify as an international threat, despite the spread of the virus to neighbouring Uganda carried by an infected family. The closely-watched decision followed advice from WHO’s emergency …

Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | The World Health Organization emergency committee was meeting Friday on whether to declare a raging Ebola epidemic an international threat, after an outbreak that began in Democratic Republic of Congo crossed into Uganda. The WHO panel, which was formed in 2005, has used the label “public …

Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP |  “Cover your goods,” Diakaria Fofana, a doctor of public health, warns food vendors as a thick cloud of insecticide spray wafts down a street in Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s economic capital. Men in protective clothes, goggles and masks are disgorging plumes of mosquito-killing chemicals in a …

Libreville, Gabon | AFP |  Here’s your new job: You have to protect the country’s precious tropical forests. You have to stop illegal logging and fight the entrenched corruption backed by powerful forces which goes with it. By the way, you are a committed environmentalist — and you are foreign-born. This …