AFRICA

Lome, Togo | AFP | The voodoo follower stood bare-chested with beads around his neck in the centre of the public square in Bè, a working class district of Togo’s capital, Lome. A dozen priests surrounded him as he made incantations, threw soil and water, and gave an offering to …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | A military court in DR Congo on Thursday handed stiff jail terms, including life imprisonment, to eight soldiers for killing civilians in the violence-wracked central Kasai region following mounting pressure from the UN. In less than a year, brutal violence in four central Kasai provinces …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Tanzania’s government must stop issuing threats against rights groups working with teen mothers or campaigning for gay rights, a joint statement from these organisations said Thursday. President John Magufuli and top government officials have issued a series of statements vowing to deregister or charge non-governmental …

Lusaka, Zambia | AFP |  Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Thursday justified imposing a state of emergency by alleging that opposition parties were behind a string of arson attacks intended “to create terror and panic”. Lungu denied he was establishing a dictatorship in Zambia — until recently a relatively stable …

Tripoli, Libya | AFP | Stray fire from fighting between armed groups that control Libya’s Mitiga airport killed five people at a nearby beach and forced the suspension of flights on Wednesday, authorities said. The clashes broke out Tuesday between the groups at Mitiga, a former military airbase east of …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Three policemen were killed Wednesday in seven hours of fighting with suspected Shabaab militants who attacked their post in southeastern Kenya, police said. Regional police chief Akello Odhiambo said the attackers raided the Pandanguo Police Camp in the coastal Lamu region. “They razed a police camp …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | A female Tanzanian MP has been arrested for allegedly insulting President John Magufuli, who is seen as increasingly authoritarian and unwilling to brook any dissent. The outspoken lawmaker, Halima Mdee, 39, from the main opposition Chadema party, was arrested on Tuesday, a day after she held a …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP |The African Union’s new chair Moussa Faki Mahamat on Wednesday questioned US commitment to fighting terrorism on the continent after it blocked efforts to get UN funding for an anti-jihadist force in the Sahel. “This is a specific case of a certain number of African …

Soweto, South Africa | AFP |South African President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday sought to calm an increasingly fractious battle to succeed him that is threatening to split the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party. Zuma, who has been hit by corruption scandals and his country’s poor economic performance, will step …

Paris, France | AFP |  The costs of diabetes in sub-Saharan Africa could double to almost $60 billion annually just 13 years from now, as obesity fuels an explosion of the disease, a report said Thursday. In 2015, the overall diabetes cost in the region was nearly $20 billion (18 …