AFRICA

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | DR Congo’s electoral body trumpeted on Tuesday the arrival of the first voting machines from South Korea for long-delayed elections that the government has pledged to hold in December. The vote is supposed to bring about the belated departure of President Joseph Kabila, in power …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s graft-tainted president Jacob Zuma on Tuesday announced a probe into corruption at the highest levels of the state after parliament indicated it would this week deliberate procedures for impeachment. Corruption allegations have tarnished Zuma’s image as well as eroded his support base and …

Luanda, Angola | AFP |  Angolan President Joao Lourenco on Monday denied “any tension” with his long-serving predecessor Jose Eduardo dos Santos, many of whose relatives and friends he has sacked from public office in a fight against corruption in the oil-rich southern African nation. In November, within three months …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP |  Hundreds of Sudanese students from the University of Khartoum threw stones at anti-riot police Monday on a third day of protests against soaring bread prices, an AFP correspondent reported. Bread prices more than doubled last week as flour manufacturers raised prices on dwindling wheat supplies …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP |  Zimbabwean anti-corruption investigators said Monday they are probing whether former first lady Grace Mugabe fraudulently obtained a doctorate that she apparently received within months and the dissertation for which remains unpublished. Grace, whose apparent desire to succeed her 93-year-old husband prompted the army takeover that …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Egyptians will head to the polls on March 26-28 in the first round of a presidential election, National Elections Authority chief Lasheen Ibrahim said on Monday. A second round will be held on April 24-26 if required, he told a news conference in Cairo. Ibrahim …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP |  Egypt is building a major water treatment and desalination plant, the president said Monday, as the Nile-dependent nation plans for any fallout from an upstream dam being built by Ethiopia. The North African country is constructing “the largest wastewater treatment and desalination plant”, President Abdel …

Rwanda refugees: Cessation Clause on status implemented  Kigali, Rwanda | THE INDEPENDENT TEAM & AGENCIES | 2018 started with a major transformational change for thousands of Rwandans living as refugees in countries around the world. Effective Jan.01, a Cessation Clause on their refugee status instituted by the United Nations High Commission …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | A student was killed in Sudan on Sunday during protests against soaring bread prices, officials and witnesses said. Protests broke out in areas of war-torn Darfur and Blue Nile states as well as the capital Khartoum with demonstrators burning tyres and blocking roads and police …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s parliament indicated Sunday it would this week deliberate procedures for presidential impeachment, as pressure mounts on embattled incumbent Jacob Zuma. The move came just days after the Constitutional Court ruled that parliament had failed to hold Zuma accountable for using public money …