Dakar, Senegal | AFP | As a girl, Karelle Vignon-Vullierme loved eating the Beninese dishes her mother cooked but never bothered following her into the kitchen to learn how to make them herself. But that has not stopped the Senegal-based blogger, now in her 30s, from building up an adoring …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Former world cross country champion Agnes Tirop beat training partner Irene Cheptai to win the women’s 10,000 metres on the first day of the Kenyan world championship trials on Friday. Tirop, winner of the women’s senior cross country title in Guiyang, China in 2015, sprinted …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Zimbabwe’s Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Friday pledged that next year’s elections will be peaceful, “free and fair” despite opposition concerns about electoral interference. Speaking on the sidelines of a conference aimed at courting South African investors, Mnangagwa noted that the last election in …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Tanzania President John Magufuli said students who become pregnant should not be allowed to finish their studies after giving birth, sparking outrage from women’s rights campaign groups. “I give money for a student to study for free. And then, she gets pregnant, gives birth and …

Accra, Ghana | AFP | Former presidents, lawmakers and senior government officials in Ghana will no longer have special privileges for private travel to the United States, Washington’s envoy has said. Until now, such individuals were able to take advantage of “protocol services” where they did not have to physically …

Kampala, Uganda | GODFREY SSALI | The Chairperson of the Commission of inquiry into land acquisition and management Justice Catherine Bamugemereire has ordered the immediate arrest of a senior registrar of titles in the Ministry of Lands and Urban Development Lwera Atalo Bogere for issuing titles in wetlands. Atalo was appearing before the …

Gaborone, Botswana | AFP | Sir Ketumile Masire, Botswana’s second post-independence leader who is largely credited with being the architect of the country’s famed stability, has died, an aide said Friday. He was 91. One of Africa’s most respected elder statesmen, he was known for leading regional peace efforts in …

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | AFP | The United Arab Emirates warned Qatar Friday that it faces “divorce” from its Gulf neighbours unless it takes seriously a list of demands including the closure of Al-Jazeera television. The Qatar-based broadcaster, a long-standing source of conflict between Doha and neighbouring countries …

Brussels, Belgium |AFP | EU leaders on Friday poured cold water on a proposal by French President Emmanuel Macron to hand Brussels more powers to control Chinese investments in strategic European industries. European leaders discussed the divisive topic on the second day of an EU summit in Brussels, as Europe …

Warder, Ethiopia |Chris Stein, AFP | The Somali people of Ethiopia’s southeast have a name for the drought that has killed livestock, dried up wells and forced hundreds of thousands into camps: sima, which means “equalised”. It’s an appropriate name, they say, because this drought has left no person untouched, …