AFRICA

Matobo, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who turned 93 this week, celebrates his birthday on Saturday with a lavish party attended by thousands of loyalists outside the second city of Bulawayo. The ruling ZANU-PF party is hosting the event for Mugabe, who has held power since 1980 …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo seems to have been everywhere while his boss is away. He even conducted a spot check on the public toilets at Lagos international airport. The clear aim, it seems, is to give the impression of business as usual while President Muhammadu …

Lubumbashi, DR Congo | AFP |  The Pygmy and Bantu people of the Democratic Republic of Congo signed a peace deal Friday to put an end to decades of deadly violence that has killed hundreds. Pygmies from the ethnic Twa group have been seeking recognition of equal rights with other …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  A 5.7-magnitude earthquake hit near Africa’s Lake Tanganyika early Friday, the US Geological Survey said, with the epicentre in northen Zambia. The quake, which was 10 kilometres (six miles) deep, struck at 00:32 GMT about 45 kilometres from the Zambian town of Kaputa, which …

Pretoria, South Africa | AFP | South African police fired rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades to break up clashes between local protesters and immigrants in Pretoria on Friday at a march against foreigners. Shops and homes owned by migrants have been looted and torched over the last two …

Banjul, Gambia | AFP |  Gambia’s dreaded former spy chief — whose watch was marred by allegations of killings and torture — and eight subordinates were charged Thursday with killing a leading opposition member in April. Yankuba Badjie headed the National Intelligence Agency, which rights groups say carried out arbitrary …

Goma, DR Congo | AFP |  Sixteen people have been killed in three days of fighting this week that pitted the Democratic Republic of Congo’s army against a rebel militia, a military spokesman told AFP Thursday. Guillaume Djike, a spokesman for the army in troubled North Kivu province in the …

VIDEO: The voter registration for all Kenyans living in the East African community has kicked off ahead of the country’s general elections slated for August.  In Uganda however, the process is rather slow although officials from the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission say that it is likely to pick as the …

DAR-ES-SALAAM, Tanzania – The Vice President of Tanzania Samia Suluhu Hassan has noted that cooperation in managing the shared Nile Basin water resources is one of the key elements that need to be in place in order to achieve Sustainable Development Goal number 6 on water. Samia Suluhu Hassan said …

Blantyre, Malawi | AFP |  Malawi’s President Peter Mutharika on Wednesday fired the country’s agriculture minister who is alleged to have profited from a $35 million deal to import maize from Zambia. George Chaponda, seen as a close ally and potential successor of Mutharika, was dismissed from his post a …