AFRICA

Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerian troops repelled an attack on a military base in northeastern Borno state in which a soldier was killed and four others were injured, military and militia sources told AFP Saturday. On Wednesday jihadists from IS-affiliated Islamic State West Africa Province killed three soldiers when …

Beni, DR Congo | AFP | The World Health Organization (WHO) said Saturday that 16 staff members have been temporarily evacuated from DR Congo’s restive eastern city of Beni after a shell hit the building they were staying in. The incident occurred in the Ebola-plagued region during clashes between UN …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwean businessman Munya Chihota’s face lights up when he recalls taking part in a march last year with tens of thousands of people calling for then-president Robert Mugabe to step down. The march came after the military had briefly taken over, and days before Mugabe …

The Hague, Netherlands | AFP | A former Central African Republic militia leader nicknamed “Colonel Rambo” arrived on Saturday in The Hague, where he will stand trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court. Currently a lawmaker, Alfred Yekatom’s extradition was the first of its …

Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Somalia has held its first boxing competition in more than three decades, with young fighters in the conflict-torn nation dreaming of a career in international rings. The three-day lightweight boxing competition that wrapped up Sunday took place in the capital Mogadishu, where athletes squared off …

Libreville, Gabon | AFP | The African Union on Saturday warned Gabon to respect constitutional order after a high court intervened in a crisis surrounding the country’s hospitalised President Ali Bongo. A statement by AU Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat emphasised that the 55-member group of African nations had a …

Beni, DR Congo | AFP | Efforts to fight an Ebola outbreak in DR Congo’s restive eastern Beni region were suspended Saturday after clashes just a “few metres” from a local emergency centre and the hotels of several response teams, the health ministry said. UN peacekeepers from the MONUSCO mission …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma on Friday lodged a court application to try to have quashed $2.5-billion corruption case linked to a 1990s arms deal, state prosecutors said. Zuma has been charged with 16 counts of fraud, racketeering and money laundering relating to …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Since starting treatment five years ago, 50-year-old Alice Chenyika kept her blood pressure under control by adhering to doctors’ strict instructions to take two daily doses of nifedipine. Now Zimbabwe’s worsening economic crisis has pushed prices up, and the medicine is far beyond her reach …

Cotonou, Benin | AFP | Benin has a reputation as one of West Africa’s most stable democracies but a series of court cases against opponents of President Patrice Talon has led to accusations that his rivals are being targeted, forcing some to flee the country. One of those opponents is …