AFRICA

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso | AFP | The landmark trial over a failed 2015 coup in Burkina Faso came to a dramatic halt on Tuesday just hours after it opened when defence lawyers staged a walkout. Eighty-four defendants including two former close allies of ousted president Blaise Campaore were facing a variety …

Algiers, Algeria | AFP | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan welcomed the signing of trade deals with Algeria on Tuesday as he visited the country on the first leg of a tour of Africa. Erdogan said the agreements would allow Ankara and Algiers to diversify trade pending the signing of “an …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir on Tuesday fired his military chief of staff as part of a “major” shake-up, the official SUNA news agency reported. The agency said Lieutenant General Emadeddin Adawi was “sacked” and the job of military chief of staff given to Lieutenant General …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | A 22-year-old woman was mauled to death by a lion on Tuesday at a private game lodge close to South Africa’s capital Pretoria, local media reported. The victim was attacked by the lioness near Hammanskraal, roughly 45 kilometres (30 miles) north of Pretoria around …

Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Boko Haram’s latest abduction of schoolgirls in northeast Nigeria has evoked painful memories for Yagana Yamane and Saraya Amos — and for good reason. In 2014, the pair were among 276 girls kidnapped from their boarding school in Chibok, in an attack that brought world …

Washington, United States | AFP | The United States took action Monday against several Maltese, Libyan and Egyptian firms, traders and ships allegedly involved in smuggling oil out of Libya in violation of UN sanctions. Libya has been gripped by chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled and killed longtime dictator …

  Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  A Tanzanian court on Monday handed five-month jail terms to two regime opponents, including a lawmaker, for defaming President John Magufuli, their defence counsel said. Joseph Mbilinyi, a lawmaker with main opposition party Chadema in the southern town of Mbeya, was sentenced with party …

United Nations, United States | AFP | Forty-six UN peacekeepers from Ghana have been recalled from their base in northwestern South Sudan following allegations of sexual exploitation of women sheltering at the site, a UN spokesman said Monday. The 46 police were confined to barracks in Juba on Saturday after a …

United Nations, United States | AFP | Burundi is not ready to hold credible elections because the ruling party and its allies remain firmly in control of political life and tensions remain high, a UN envoy said Monday. In power since 2005, Burundi’s President Pierre Nkurunziza is leading a push for …

Pretoria, South Africa | AFP |  South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced a sweeping reshuffle Monday that saw Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma named Minister in the Presidency responsible for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation. She is one of up to 12 women ministers named in the cabinet reshuffle (making 45% of ministers and …