AFRICA

Cairo, EGYPT | AFP | Campaigning began in Egypt’s presidential election on Saturday with incumbent Abdel Fattah al-Sisi likely to romp to victory in the absence of a serious challenger in the two-candidate race. The former army chief will face the head of the liberal Ghad party, Mussa Mustapha Mussa, …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | A protest march by opponents of DR Congo President Joseph Kabila looked set to go ahead Sunday after authorities and organisers failed to agree an official route, after two similar rallies were brutally put down last month. Kinshasa governor Andre Kimbuta on Saturday invited …

Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA | AFP | Ethiopia’s ruling coalition will meet to choose a new prime minister next week, a party official said on Saturday. Hailemariam Desalegn resigned as prime minister last week after ordering a mass prisoner amnesty and days of protest in Africa’s second most-populous country. A state …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Seven suspects accused of killing five South African policemen were shot dead by officers late on Friday in a bloody gunfight outside a church, according to investigators. The shoot-out erupted when police hunted down the armed gang that is alleged to have stormed a …

Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Two car bombings killed 38 people in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Friday, the city’s main ambulance service told AFP on Saturday. “We have seen at least 38 people dead,” said Abdukadir Abdurahman Aden of the Aamin Ambulance of the bombings that targeted the presidential …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | A recent spate of violent attacks in Tanzania threaten the country’s democracy, the European Union has said. “We note with concern the recent developments which threaten democratic values and the rights of Tanzanians,” the EU said in a statement Friday. The EU said it was …

Dubai, United Arab Emirates | AFP | Dubai has said it is seeking international arbitration against Djibouti after the Horn of Africa nation terminated its concession at a key port that is the main transit route to landlocked Ethiopia. The emirate said the Djiboutian government’s termination Thursday of the 50-year …

Malabo, Equatorial Guinea | AFP | Equatorial Guinea’s main opposition party “must be dissolved”, the attorney general has said during the trial of 147 of its activists who are accused of “rebellion”. “The Citizens for Innovation (CI) party should be dissolved, there is violence wherever it holds meetings,” said David …

Nouakchott, Mauritania | AFP | A powerful jihadist alliance has claimed an attack on a French military vehicle in Mali that left two soldiers dead, Mauritanian media reported on Friday. Two soldiers from France’s counter-terrorism force in West Africa were killed and another was hurt on Wednesday when their vehicle …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s top court on Friday reinstated a 24 year prison sentence for a Nigerian oil militant convicted of a series of terror attacks in his home country eight years ago. Henry Okah was jailed in 2013 for masterminding a number of attacks, including …