AFRICA

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP |  Morgan Tsvangirai, the veteran Zimbabwean opposition leader who fought Robert Mugabe’s regime for many years, died on Wednesday after battling against cancer, a party official said. Tsvangirai, who founded the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in 1999, was among the most prominent critics of Mugabe, …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Police in Burundi have threatened to arrest anyone campaigning prematurely against a referendum to revise the constitution, which if passed could allow President Pierre Nkurunziza to remain in power until 2034. Police spokesman Pierre Nkurikiye issued the warning to anyone who might “try to impede …

Cape Town, South Africa | AFP |  South Africa’s parliament will hold a motion of no-confidence in President Jacob Zuma on Thursday, the ruling ANC party said, signalling its determination to eject him from office after days of stalemate. Soon after Zuma went onto SABC TV to defend himself. (Live …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | A local leader of the main Tanzanian opposition party has been found beaten to death after men bundled him into a car, party chairman Freeman Mbowe said Wednesday. Daniel John was responsible for the Chadema party in the Hananasif district of the economic capital Dar …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South African police Wednesday raided the Johannesburg home of the business family accused of overseeing government corruption under President Jacob Zuma, who has been ordered to resign by his party. Zuma is expected to respond to the ANC party’s order later Wednesday, hours after …

The horn player with a shrewd ear for music of the day Johannesburg, South Africa | GWEN ANSELL | Trumpeter, flugelhorn-player, singer, composer and activist Hugh Ramapolo Masekela has passed away after a long battle with prostate cancer. When he cancelled his appearance last year at the Johannesburg Joy of Jazz …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Scandal-hit British charity Oxfam was reeling Tuesday after fresh claims of sexual assault and cover-up in South Sudan, as Haiti’s president condemned the behaviour of some of its staff in his country as “undignified and dishonest”. The latest revelations by Helen Evans, former global head …

Kainji, Nigeria | AFP | A man involved in the 2014 kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls from Chibok in northeast Nigeria has been jailed for 15 years, the government confirmed on Tuesday. The conviction of Haruna Yahaya, 35, is the first in relation to the mass abduction, which triggered global …

Top job for South African Lesetja Kganyago gives African countries sway Kampala, Uganda | DANNY BRADLOW | South Africa’s Reserve Bank Governor, Lesetja Kganyago, has been selected as the first sub-Saharan African to serve as chair of the International Monetary and Finance Committee. The chair is appointed by consensus. The three-year …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africans were on tenterhooks Wednesday as their scandal-tainted President Jacob Zuma was expected to respond to his party’s decision to “recall” him from office in an atmosphere of growing political turmoil. The embattled president, who could be ousted in a parliamentary vote of …