AFRICA

RESULT: Gabon held 1-1 by Guinea-Bissau in Africa Cup of Nations opener. Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored the tournament’s opening goal, before Guinea-Bissau equalized in the last minute. FULL TIME | Gabon – Guinea-Bissau 1-1 #CAN2017 #GABGNB pic.twitter.com/cA8Hvu1owd — CAF (@CAF_Online) January 14, 2017 **** Libreville, Gabon | AFP |  Gabon …

Washington, United States | AFP | US President Barack Obama on Friday took the controversial step of easing economic sanctions against Sudan, trying to improve relations with a country whose leader is accused of war crimes and links to terror. Obama informed Congress that he will lift trade and investment …

Gambia’s Barrow to meet west African leaders in Mali Banjul, Gambia | AFP |  President-elect Adama Barrow flew out of The Gambia late Friday to meet west African leaders attending a summit in Bamako with hopes of ending the country’s political crisis, Nigeria’s foreign minister said. “The ECOWAS team has …

Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | Shooting was heard late Friday from inside the main military camp in Abidjan, Ivory’s Coast’s economic capital, witnesses said Friday, days after a brief mutiny by the armed forces. “There were shots, bursts of gunfire coming from the barracks. It stopped and started again,” …

Washington, United States | AFP |  US President Barack Obama took the controversial step of easing some economic sanctions against Sudan Friday, trying to improve relations with a country whose leader is accused of war crimes and past links to terror. Obama informed Congress that he will lift trade and …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South African President Jacob Zuma has said the ruling ANC party is ready for its first female leader, days after his former wife was named by the party’s influential women’s league as its choice to succeed him. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who has four children with …

 COMMENT: By Barbara Unmüßig Poverty, malnutrition, and hunger must be recognised as a result of politics, not scarcity The way people eat in the industrialised world is unhealthy, unjust, and unsustainable. Far too much of the meat consumed is produced under questionable ecological, ethical, and social conditions. And now that …

Banjul, Gambia | AFP |  Gambia’s president has warned the international community against interfering in the country’s political crisis, on the eve of talks with west African leaders who will urge him to step aside. On state-run television late Tuesday, Yahya Jammeh lashed out at “an unprecedented level of foreign …

Kenyans mock president’s passion for project launches Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  Kenya’s notoriously caustic tweeters have taken aim at President Uhuru Kenyatta’s love for a good ribbon-cutting, mocking his endless unveilings of often bizarrely named projects. Kenyatta, who is seeking re-election in August, has an active Twitter account which …

COMMENT: By Moono Mupotola Experts confirm potential of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in African (PIDA) to contribute jobs and GDP growth When the Lamu Port, South Sudan, Ethiopia Transport Corridor Project (LAPSSET) won the prestigious Global Infrastructure Leadership Forum Award in Washington DC on March 10, 2016, the project …