AFRICA

Rabat, Morocco | AFP | Five facts about the African Nations Championship (CHAN), which begins in Morocco Saturday: — A total of 242 goals have been scored during the previous four tournaments in the Ivory Coast, Sudan, South Africa and Rwanda at an average of 2.16 per match. — Tunisia …

Bamako, Mali | AFP | Flags flew at half-mast in Mali on Thursday as the government announced 48 of its citizens drowned in the Mediterranean on a single day over the weekend, all trying to reach Europe. The west African nation accounted for the fifth largest contingent of arrivals to …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | A human-rights lawyer representing English-speaking Cameroonian separatists said Thursday the group had been arrested by Nigeria’s secret service and were being held “illegally”, calling on the government to probe their disappearance. Femi Falana said Sisiku Ayuk Tabe, the president of the anglophone separatist movement in …

Gabon president defends constitutional change after parliament gives okay Libreville, Gabon | AFP |  Gabonese President Ali Bongo on Wednesday defended a plan to change the constitution after the fiercely-contested draft cleared a key hurdle. Parliament on Wednesday approved a raft of changes that the opposition has slammed as a …

Luanda, Angola | AFP |  Angolan President Joao Lourenco removed the son of his predecessor Jose Eduardo dos Santos from the top job at the oil-rich country’s sovereign wealth fund, the presidency said on Wednesday. Jose Filomeno dos Santos, who was implicated in the “Panama Papers” offshore scandal, will be …

Nairobi, Kenya | THE INDEPENDENT |  President Uhuru Kenyatta is in South Africa where he will meet President Jacob Zuma and later Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, before attending celebrations on Saturday to mark the 106th anniversary of the ruling African National Congress (ANC). Kenyatta left Thursday for talks in the afternoon …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | European Union election monitors said Wednesday that Kenya’s flawed presidential poll had “weakened” the country’s democracy in a critical report that triggered an angry government response. President Uhuru Kenyatta won a second term in an October rerun after his initial victory was nullified by the Supreme …

N’Djamena, Chad | AFP | The cash-strapped central African nation of Chad has suspended a plan to reduce the salaries of its civil servants, Prime Minister Albert Pahimi Padacke announced on Wednesday. The plan, announced earlier this month, aims to ease the strains on a budget badly hit by a nearly …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s ruling ANC party met behind closed doors Wednesday as pressure grew on President Jacob Zuma to step down ahead of elections next year when the party risks losing power. Zuma was replaced as party leader by his deputy Cyril Ramaphosa in December, and …

Tripoli, Libya | AFP | The UN’s political chief pushed Wednesday in Libya for the country to hold credible elections this year in a bid to ensure a peaceful shift from a failed unity deal. “The goal is a Libyan goal to end the transition phase with inclusive peaceful process that …