AFRICA

Cairo, Egypt | AFP |  An Egyptian court sentenced ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi to three years in prison along with 19 other defendants on Saturday for “insulting the judiciary,” his lawyer said. The other defendants include former members of parliament, activists and three journalists. Morsi had already been sentenced …

Benghazi, Libya | AFP | Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar has said he will support 2018 elections in the war-torn country but also implied he would seize power if the polls did not occur. Late Thursday, Haftar said presidential and parliamentary elections were “a fundamental solution” to Libya’s crisis and should …

Yaoundé, Cameroon | AFP | Cameroonian police have arrested a group of nearly 40 heavily armed men who were headed into neighbouring Equitorial Guinea, a military source said Friday. Equitorial Guinea’s Ambassador to France, Miguel Oyono Ndong Mifumu, referred to the incident as an “invasion and destabilisation attempt”, according to …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Three pro-democracy activists have been released after spending five months in prison in the Democratic Republic of Congo over a protest march against President Joseph Kabila, their organisation said Friday. Jean Mulenda, Jean-Pierre Tshisitshabu and Patrick Mbuya have left Kasapa central prison in the …

Monrovia, Liberia | AFP |  Liberia’s elections board on Friday officially certified former international football star George Weah as the winner of the nation’s presidential election, following a tally of all results. In the West African country’s first democratic transfer of power after two devastating civil wars, Weah beat Vice …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP | A gunman opened fire on a church south of Cairo on Friday, killing at least nine people in the latest apparent jihadist attack on Egypt’s Christian minority. The attacker targeted the Saint Mina Coptic church in the district of Helwan, just south of Cairo. Health …

Kampala, Uganda | AFP |  Uganda has charged 45 Rwandans with terrorism following their arrest at the border with Tanzania earlier this month, a police spokesman said Friday. “We arrested 43 Rwandan suspects at the border with Tanzania on December 11. On further investigations two other suspects were arrested,” police …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s top court on Friday ruled that parliament had failed to hold President Jacob Zuma accountable for using public money for private home upgrades, a move that could lead to impeachment proceedings. Opposition parties had gone to the Constitutional Court to argue that …

ANALYSIS: Troubled South African leader Zuma heads towards exit Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s jovial leader Jacob Zuma is a former herdboy who fought in the anti-apartheid struggle and has held onto the presidency despite a plethora of scandals. Now aged 75, he has survived by building …

Maputo, Mozambique | AFP | Mozambique has announced a security crackdown that will target Tanzanians accused of “terrorism” after a spate of attacks in the country’s north blamed by authorities on jihadists. In October armed men laid siege to three police stations in Mocimboa de Praia, close to the Tanzanian border, …