AFRICA

Durban, South Africa | AFP | South African President on Saturday launched the ANC’s campaign for legislative elections in May, acknowledging the party’s past mistakes and promising to restore democratic institutions and economic growth. Ramaphosa unveiled a 68-page manifesto before tens of thousands of supporters in the eastern city of Durban, marking the start of …

Warri, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerian police on Saturday said many people were feared dead after a petrol tanker veered off the road, caught fire and exploded as people tried to recover fuel. The vehicle crashed in the Odukpani area of the southeastern state of Cross River, just north of the state capital, Calabar, at …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | As angry protests pile pressure on Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to step down, key powers are standing by his regime to ensure stability in a strife-torn region, analysts say. Demonstrations that erupted in the provinces last month after the government tripled the price of bread have escalated into nationwide protests …

United Nations, United States | AFP | Morocco has accused Polisario Front fighters in Western Sahara of violating a ceasefire agreement, just weeks before an expected new round of talks on ending the decades-old conflict. In a letter seen by AFP on Friday, Morocco’s UN Ambassador Omar Hilale cited three …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudan’s top human rights body on Friday condemned the killing “by bullets” of protesters during a wave of unrest and called on the authorities to bring those responsible to justice. The statement by Sudan’s National Human Rights Commission was the first acknowledgement by a state …

Durban, South Africa | AFP | South African President Cyril Ramaphosa is set to unveil the ruling ANC party’s election manifesto on Saturday in front of tens of thousands of supporters, marking the start of four months of hectic campaigning. The African National Congress (ANC), which has ruled since the …

Paris, France | AFP | The demonstrations that have rocked Sudan over the past three weeks represent the biggest threat to President Omar al-Bashir’s rule since he took power three decades ago. Willow Berridge, a lecturer at Newcastle University in northern England and author of “Civil Uprisings in Modern Sudan”, …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The outcome of DR Congo’s tempestuous presidential election appeared to be headed for the courts Friday after the poll’s runner-up said he would demand a recount. Martin Fayulu, an opposition candidate tipped by pollsters as the likely winner of the December 30 vote, told …

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso | AFP | Twelve civilians were killed on Thursday during a jihadist attack in the north of Burkina Faso, which has been battling a wave of Islamist violence, officials said Friday. The west African country declared a state of emergency in several provinces at the end of …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The runner-up in DR Congo’s presidential elections said Friday he would appeal to the Constitutional Court for a recount as his bloc claimed he won the poll with 61 percent of the vote. “We will go to the Constitutional Court on Saturday… (to demand) a recount of the vote,” …