AFRICA

Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP | Counting began on Wednesday in Sierra Leone following a general election, as the residence of an opposition leader was raided by police. Polls closed at 5 pm as expected for the West African nation’s 3.1 million voters, who were choosing a new president, parliament and …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | A Nigerian court sentenced two men to life imprisonment on Wednesday over deadly twin bomb attacks which killed 12 people during the country’s 2010 Independence Day celebrations. Charles Okah and Obi Nwabueze were convicted for facilitating and financing the blasts during national celebrations in the capital …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Ethiopia’s ruling coalition will meet next week to choose a successor to Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn whose surprise resignation last month has sparked a rare succession race, state media reported Wednesday. Hailemariam’s decision to step down was unprecedented in the 27-year reign of the …

Freetown, Sierra Leone | AFP | Sierra Leoneans voted Wednesday in a general election to pick a new president, with many craving economic change and a boost to living standards in one of the world’s poorest countries. Dozens of people joined queues at a polling station visited by AFP in …

Montgenèvre, France | AFP | Five African migrants stumble through the snow, exhausted and numb, abandoned hours earlier by a smuggler who left them to make their own way down the mountain from Italy into France. They are among dozens who have been tricked in recent weeks into paying hundreds …

Luanda, Angola | AFP | Heavy rains, filthy conditions, medicine shortages and endemic corruption have combined to make a lethal malarial cocktail for Angola. Since the start of the year more than 300,000 cases of the disease have been reported across the country, leading to at least a thousand deaths. …

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso | AFP | Eight soldiers were killed and 61 injured, as well as 24 civilians, in last week’s twin attacks in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou, the authorities said Tuesday, adding that eight jihadist assailants also died. The previous official toll from Friday’s twin assault on the country’s military …

Banjul, Gambia | AFP | The Gambia Tuesday apologised to Thailand after its foreign minister said the Asian country was a haven for sex tourists, sparking a strongly worded protest from Bangkok. Hamat Bah said on state television in January that The Gambia, a sunny beach destination favoured by Western tourists …

Lome, Togo | AFP | Togo’s opposition coalition on Tuesday said it would resume its protests against President Faure Gnassingbe and his government, despite both sides having agreed to a suspension during talks. The grouping of 14 parties’ spokesman, Eric Dupuy, told AFP: “We have decided to start our protests again …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenya’s health ministry on Tuesday announced a ban on the import and sale of certain South African processed meat products after a listeria outbreak that has killed at least 180 people. Kenya is the first nation in east Africa to ban ready-to-eat meat products from …