AFRICA

Cape Town, South Africa | AFP |  South Africa’s freshly-appointed president, Cyril Ramaphosa, on Friday hailed “a new dawn” as he pledged to tackle corruption that his predecessor Jacob Zuma is accused of fostering. In his first major speech after Zuma’s bruising nine-year term ended, Ramaphosa outlined a grand vision to …

Ethiopia declares state of emergency after PM resigns Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP |  Ethiopia on Friday declared a state of emergency one day after Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn announced his resignation, state media reported. “A state of emergency has been declared as of now,” the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC) …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe’s main opposition party is facing the threat of damaging splits just months before a historic election, as feuding erupts after the death on Wednesday of its leader Morgan Tsvangirai. Tsvangirai’s final months were accompanied by increasingly public quarrelling between his three deputies over who would …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn resigned unexpectedly on Thursday, the first leader to do so in the country’s recent history. As Africa’s second most-populous country enters uncharted political territory, here are four questions about what happened — and what comes next. – Why did …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Ethiopia’s opposition reacted cautiously on Friday a day after the surprise resignation of the prime minister, warning it did not herald real change since the ruling party remains in power. Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn resigned on Thursday after weeks of anti-government demonstrations and growing …

Cape Town, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s newly-minted president, Cyril Ramphosa, will deliver his first major policy speech Friday, seizing the chance to offer the country a fresh start after nine bruising years under Jacob Zuma. The State of the Nation address is an annual mix of political …

Bogota, Colombia | AFP | A leader of Colombia’s ELN guerrillas was arrested Thursday in Bogota on suspicion of planning two attacks on police that killed seven and left dozens wounded, prosecutors said. Rafael Antonio Botero Restrepo, known by the nickname “Tista,” was arrested in a joint operation carried out …

United Nations, United States | AFP | The latest round of Ethiopia-led peace talks on South Sudan will wrap up on Friday with a possible agreement that could pave the way to further negotiations on ending the war, the UN envoy said. The talks that opened on February 5 in …

Paris, France | AFP | Liberia’s new president, the ex-footballer George Weah, will visit France later this month and meet President Emmanuel Macron, the Elysee Palace announced Thursday. “This will be George Weah’s first trip to Europe since his election”, a statement said, calling his victory “an exemplary democratic change …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Retired archbishop and Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu announced Thursday that he had quit his role as an ambassador for Oxfam after the British charity was hit by sexual misconduct allegations. “The Archbishop is deeply disappointed by allegations of immorality and possible criminality involving humanitarian …