AFRICA

Accra, Ghana | AFP | Cameroon was on Friday stripped of hosting the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations due to delays in preparing for the continental showpiece, organisers the Confederation of African Football announced. “Today we took the decision to withdraw the 2019 CAN from Cameroon,” CAF president Ahmad Ahmad told …

Algiers, Algeria | AFP | Archaeologists in Algeria have discovered stone tools and cut animal bones that may be up to 2.4 million years old, bringing into question East Africa’s title as the cradle of humanity, according to research published Thursday in the journal Science. The artifacts — more ancient …

Rabat, Morocco | AFP | Gabon’s President Ali Bongo arrived in Morocco on Thursday to convalesce after a month’s treatment at a Saudi hospital for an illness that has not been officially revealed. The 59-year-old leader of the oil-rich West African state had been in hospital in Saudi Arabia since …

    Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Several thousand anti-government demonstrators marched through the capital of Zimbabwe on Thursday, closely watched by armed police in the first rally since a deadly crackdown on an election protest in August. Singing and waving placards denouncing President Emmerson Mnangagwa, the protesters gathered in …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Despite long-standing restrictions, new weapons have continued to reach South Sudan’s battlefields, often via neighbouring countries, a detailed report by an arms monitoring group said Thursday. A four-year investigation, by London-based Conflict Armament Research (CAR), into the supply of weapons that have helped keep South …

Antananarivo, Madagascar | AFP | Two former presidents of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina and Marc Ravalomanana, will face each other in a run-off election next month to decide who will lead the Indian Ocean island nation, the country’s top court announced Wednesday. The run-off comes after neither candidate won the 50 …

One-fifth of the 25 million new jobs AfD Btargets for youth in Africa could come from off-grid solar COMMENT | Mugo Kibatiand and Gilles Vermot Desroches | Africa is on the verge of an unemployment crisis portending profound economic, political, and social ramifications. But the crisis can be averted, and …

Maiduguri, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari urged troops to show more commitment in fighting Boko Haram despite scores of losses in a recent assault as he visited the key northeastern city of Maiduguri on Wednesday. The visit came a day before Buhari heads to N’Djamena for talks …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The US embassy in Kinshasa will on Thursday be closed to the public for a fourth day following “credible and precise information” about a possible terrorist threat, a month ahead of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s presidential election. In a statement on its website, …

Yaoundé, Cameroon | AFP | At least 29 people were wounded Wednesday when a women bomber blew herself up in a border town in Cameroon’s Far North, a region frequently hit by Boko Haram jihadists, security sources said. But a second bomber was shot dead by troops deployed in the …