AFRICA

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Once Robert Mugabe’s fiercest supporters, independence war veterans played a key role in ousting him, proving they still wield influence in Zimbabwe which only threw off colonial rule in 1980. Mugabe’s reign was built on support from three pillars — ZANU-PF party, the military and …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | A Zimbabwe High Court has ruled that the military takeover that led to Robert Mugabe’s ousting was legal, raising immediate concerns about judicial independence under the country’s new administration. Army chiefs put military vehicles on the streets of Harare and placed veteran leader Mugabe, 93, under …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe’s new President Emmerson Mnangagwa vowed sweeping change at his swearing in on Friday, seeking to reassure foreign investors and pledging to fight poverty and corruption after Robert Mugabe’s shock resignation. In his inaugural address, Mnangagwa set out a programme of dramatic change that promised …

Bukavu, DR Congo | AFP | The trial of 18 suspected militiamen over the kidnapping and rape of some 40 girls in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has been suspended after a defendant demanded the recusal of two judges, a judicial source said Friday. The demand was made by a …

Monrovia, Liberia | AFP | Liberia’s election commission on Friday confirmed its rejection of fraud allegations over the first round of presidential elections, setting the scene for a showdown at the Supreme Court. The announcement, which concerns the October 10 vote, confirms a decision initially taken on Monday, National Elections …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Attackers killed at least 235 worshippers Friday in a bomb and gun assault on a packed mosque in Egypt’s restive North Sinai province, in the country’s deadliest attack in recent memory. A bomb explosion ripped through the Rawda mosque frequented by Sufis roughly 40 kilometres …

Bamako, Mali | AFP | Four UN peacekeepers and a Malian soldier were killed in attacks in Mali on Friday, the UN’s MINUSMA mission to the country said. Twenty people, including another Malian soldier and several UN peacekeepers were injured in the attacks. The first attack happened in the morning …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Former vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa has taken over as Zimbabwe’s new leader, ending strongman Robert Mugabe’s 37-year reign and the country’s worst political crisis since independence. Here is a snapshot of two weeks of turmoil, from a military takeover to mass street protests and an …

Attack on mosque in Egypt’s Sinai kills at least 235 Cairo, Egypt | AFP |  Armed attackers on Friday killed at least 235 worshippers in a bomb and gun assault on a packed mosque in Egypt’s restive North Sinai province, in the country’s deadliest attack in recent memory. A bomb …

Zimbabwe | AFP | Local residents in the rural Zimbabwean village where Robert Mugabe was born, got married, and has a house say he was a great leader — but express sorrowful acceptance rather than anger at his ousting. Kutama, 55 miles (90 kilometres) outside the capital Harare, has been …