Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerian civil society activists called on President Muhammadu Buhari to take long-term medical leave Tuesday, adding to mounting pressure on the 74-year-old over his health. The ailing head of state spent two months in London earlier this year, officially on vacation and to have routine medical …
Read More »Murders touch off riots in DR Congo’s gold-rich northeast
Kisangani, DR Congo | AFP | Protesters angered by a string of unsolved murders threw up roadblocks and mobbed government offices in three days of riots in the restive gold-rich Ituri region of Democratic Republic of Congo, local officials said Monday. The trouble erupted Saturday in the town of Mahagi …
Read More »South Africa’s Zuma quits rally after being jeered
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South African President Jacob Zuma abandoned a Mayday rally on Monday after he was booed and jeered by trade union members demanding he step down. He was heckled by crowd members who sang anti-Zuma songs as he prepared to speak at the rally in …
Read More »FOOTBALL: ‘Enough’ as Muntari walks off after racial abuse
Milan, Italy | AFP | Ghana’s Sulley Muntari dramatically walked off the pitch while playing for Pescara at Cagliari on Sunday after his complaints of racist abuse were met with a yellow card. The former AC Milan and Inter midfielder, who claimed the abuse also came from children, angrily confronted …
Read More »UPDF winds up CAR mission
Uganda is in the process of withdrawing UPDF troops from the troubled Central African Republic (CAR), where Joseph Kony and his Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels fled after they were routed from northern Uganda a decade ago. A total of 31 UPDF soldiers landed at Gulu airfield in the first …
Read More »Pope in Egypt rejects fanaticism, urges charity
Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Pope Francis rejected fanaticism and appealed for charity on Saturday as he addressed thousands of faithful during a visit to Egypt to promote reconciliation with Muslims and support its embattled Christians. His visit, coming after the Islamic State group (IS) killed dozens of worshippers in …
Read More »Algeria praises UN vote on disputed Western Sahara
Algiers, Algeria | AFP | Algeria on Saturday hailed a UN Security Council resolution endorsing a new peace initiative on the disputed territory of Western Sahara as a “diplomatic success”. Friday’s vote came as UN military observers confirmed that Polisario Front forces, fighting for independence in Western Sahara, had withdrawn …
Read More »Paris show for African art by collector who’s never been there
Paris, France | AFP | A new exhibition in Paris is showcasing one of the world’s biggest collections of contemporary African art — which was amassed without the collector himself ever once setting foot on the continent. “The Insiders” at the Louis Vuitton Foundation features works by 15 artists selected …
Read More »Burundi refugees find hope in ‘at home’ bar in Rwanda
Kigali, Rwanda | AFP | Outside Rwanda’s national stadium is a bar that has become a second home for Burundian refugees fleeing their country’s two-year-old political crisis. The clues are in the name, “Imuhira” meaning “at home” in Burundi’s Kirundi language, in the voices of those who gather on the …
Read More »CONGO: Militia clashes kill 29 in eastern DRC
Goma, DR Congo | AFP | Twenty-nine people have been killed in three days of clashes between rival factions of a militia group in a village in Democratic Republic of Congo’s restive east, an official said Friday. The two factions are fighting for control of the village of Bweru in …
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