AFRICA

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Catholics in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Saturday called for a fresh rally against “the dictatorship” as they step up pressure on President Joseph Kabila. The call for a demonstration on January 21 came less than two weeks after New Year’s Eve protests …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South African police Saturday intervened to clear protesters trashing outlets of Swedish clothing giant Hennes and Mauritz in Johannesburg over a controversial advertisement of a black child. A photo on the company’s online website of a black boy wearing a green hoodie with the …

Accra, Ghana | AFP | Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo on Saturday said Donald Trump’s reported description of African nations as “shithole countries” was unacceptable, while his predecessor branded the US head of state a racist. President Akufo-Addo tweeted that Trump’s reported language was “extremely unfortunate”, adding: “We are certainly not …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Two people were killed Saturday in an attack on a convoy of buses travelling in eastern Kenya under police protection, said interior ministry and police officials, who blamed Shabaab Islamists. The buses and police vehicles were travelling from Lamu on the northern Kenyan coast near …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP |  The head of Egypt’s legendary Zamalek football club, Mortada Mansour, said Saturday he would be standing in the presidential election in March. “I will be a candidate in the presidential election and I will start to collect sponsors,” he wrote on Facebook. He also confirmed …

Beni, DR Congo | AFP |  The Congolese army on Saturday announced a new operation against armed groups, notably the ADF Ugandan Islamist rebels suspected of murdering 14 UN peacekeepers last month. Army vehicles transported some 300 troops to the operation’s headquarters near Beni in the restive eastern province of …

Tunis, Tunisia | AFP | Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi was to hold talks Saturday with political parties, unions and employers to discuss means to overcome unrest triggered by austerity measures. The North African country has been shaken by a wave of protests over poverty and unemployment during which hundreds have …

East London, South Africa | AFP | The new head of South Africa’s ruling ANC, Cyril Ramaphosa, pledged Saturday to “restore the credibility” of the party after a spate of graft scandals involving President Jacob Zuma. Zuma was replaced as party chief by his deputy Cyril Ramaphosa in December with the …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | An Ethiopian court has sentenced prominent dissident Bekele Gerba and three other opposition figures to six months in jail for singing a protest song in court, a defence lawyer told AFP on Friday. The four, all members of the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC), …

Banjul, Gambia | AFP | The Gambia has suspended permission for rallies and other public political events after clashes allegedly between supporters of President Adama Barrow and those of the former regime of Yahya Jammeh. Gambian police said in a statement issued late Thursday that permits for political parties to …