AFRICA

THIS WEEK: US, AU pile pressure on South Sudan leaders Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The African Union has joined the United States in considering sanctions against those blocking peace in South Sudan. African Union chief Moussa Faki Mahamat said that “the time has come” for sanctions as a way …

THIS WEEK: AU rocked by China spying allegations Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The African Union has been rocked by allegations that China bugged the building that houses the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The headquarters were built by China and opened in 2012. A French …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The UN imposed sanctions on a Congolese general on Friday for supporting the massacre of civilians by a suspected militia in eastern DR Congo. General Muhindo Akili Mundos, an ally of President Joseph Kabila, is one of four names to be added on to …

Rabat, Morocco | AFP | Thousands of people staged a protest Friday in an impoverished Moroccan city over the latest fatality in the region’s “mines of death”, the third such victim since December, witnesses said. The protest was staged outside the morgue of the hospital in the northeastern town of …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudanese security agents have arrested the deputy head of the country’s main opposition Umma Party after it held anti-government rallies to protest rising food prices, the party said on Friday. Sporadic demonstrations have hit Khartoum and some other parts of Sudan since early January after …

Tripoli, Libya | AFP | The United Nations expressed “grave concern” Friday over the breakdown in a deal to allow thousands of displaced to return to a town that backed Libya’s leader Moamer Kadhafi in its 2011 revolution. “For too many people displacement becomes more protracted every day, as insecurity …

Theunissen, South Africa | AFP | All 955 gold miners trapped underground for more than a day in South Africa after a power cut were rescued unharmed on Friday, to the joy of waiting relatives. “Everybody’s out,” mine spokesman James Wellsted told AFP, adding that there were no deaths or …

Casablanca, Morocco | AFP | A controversial former minister who coordinates armed groups in conflict-hit Central African Republic was on Friday elected to the governing board of Africa’s top footballing body. Patrice Edouard Ngaissona, who is Central Africa’s football chief, was elected following a vote in Casablanca among delegates at …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s former president Olusegun Obasanjo has called on the country’s current leader Muhammadu Buhari not to seek a second term of office, in wide-ranging criticisms that could hit his support should he decide to stand. (FULL TEXT OF STATEMENT BOTTOM) Obasanjo’s outspoken comments come against …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The UN on Friday followed the United States in criticising the Kenyan government after it took three major TV channels off the air despite a court order to end the suspensions. “We call on the government to respect and implement the judicial decision,” said Rupert …