AFRICA

Ousted Egypt president Mubarak freed from detention: lawyer Cairo, Egypt | AFP |  Egypt’s ousted president Hosni Mubarak left a military hospital on Friday where he had spent much of his six-year detention, his lawyer said. Mubarak had been cleared for release earlier this month after a top court finally …

United Nations, United States | AFP | Somalia’s new president appealed to the international community Thursday for more aid to avert a famine threatening his country that could also undermine fledgling political hopes born in his peaceful election. “Almost half of our people are facing acute food shortages and about 15 …

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | AFP | Tanzania’s information minister was fired on Thursday after he criticised an ally of President John Magufuli who had stormed into a television station accompanied by armed men. The sacking comes amid an uproar over the incident at one of Tanzania’s main private broadcasters, …

Kigali, Rwanda | AFP |  The pregnant Rwandan-British wife of an exiled opposition official appeared in a Kigali court Thursday accused of seeking to form an armed group and revealing state secrets. Violette Uwamahoro, who moved to the United Kingdom in 2004, went to Rwanda for her father’s funeral and …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The United Nations said Wednesday investigators found 10 mass graves in the violence-wracked Kasai region in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s centre. “We have communicated to the (Congolese) government the presence of seven mass graves in the town of Demba … and three mass …

  Rome, Italy | AFP | The United Nations has approved an emergency loan of $22 million (20.3 million euros) in a bid to prevent another famine in drought and crisis-hit Somalia, its food agency said Tuesday. The Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) is releasing the funds to the Food and Agriculture …

Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | At least five people were killed when a vehicle laden with explosives blew up in Mogadishu on Tuesday, a local official said, the latest attack in the troubled Somali capital. The blast occurred at a checkpoint near the presidential palace just as the Horn of Africa …

United Nations, United States | AFP |  France’s ambassador to the United Nations warned Tuesday that drastic cuts to the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo would be tantamount to “playing with fire” as the country faces election turmoil. France has circulated a draft resolution to renew …

Juba, South Sudan | AFP | At least 37 people were injured when a passenger jet crash-landed in South Sudan’s northwestern city of Wau on Monday, government and airport officials said. There were 40 passengers and five crew members on board the South Supreme Airlines plane that had taken off from …

Juba, South Sudan | AFP | A passenger jet carrying 45 people crash-landed in South Sudan’s northwestern city of Wau on Monday, leaving at least 14 people injured, government and airport officials said. It was unclear however if the rest of the those on board were alive or dead. “There were …