AFRICA

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT & AGENCIES | Rwanda has offered to provide refuge to as many as 30,000 African migrants suffering abuse and slave-like conditions in Libya. Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo, who made the announcement on Nov. 22, said the figure “is not confirmed yet but an estimate”. “It has just …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, announced Sunday that he had rejoined the country’s main opposition party, the latest sign he aims to run for the presidency in 2019. In a live video broadcast on his Facebook page, Abubakar said he was again joining the …

Bamako, Mali | AFP | A Malian army general and former government minister has resigned his post to stand in the country’s presidential elections in July 2018, sources close to the officer said Sunday. Moussa Sinko Coulibaly is the second person to declare his candidacy, after Kalifa Sanogo, the mayor of …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Egyptian military prosecutors ordered a colonel be detained for 15 days after he announced plans to run in the country’s 2018 presidential election, his lawyer said Sunday. Colonel Ahmed Konsowa was detained on Saturday on suspicion of “behaviour that harms the requirements of the military” …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP |  Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Saturday dropped two ministers he had appointed to his new cabinet just a day earlier, a move widely seen as a response to a public uproar over the nominations. Mnangagwa, 75, named his cabinet overnight Thursday, and is expected to …

Kampala, Uganda | | THE INDEPENDENT & AGENCIES | Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta was sworn in on Nov. 28 for a second term as police fired teargas to disperse angry opposition supporters, in what many hope is the closing act of a grueling and divisive election drama. The pomp and ceremony ended with …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP | An Egyptian court on Saturday sentenced a lawyer who said woman wearing ripped jeans should be raped to three years in prison, a judicial source said. The sentence against Nabih al-Wahsh was passed in absentia as the lawyer, previously released on bail, did not attend …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Saturday dropped two ministers he had appointed to his new cabinet just a day earlier, a move widely seen as a response to a public uproar over the nominations. Mnangagwa, 75, named his cabinet overnight Thursday, and is expected to …

Maseru, Lesotho | AFP | A 258-strong regional force was deployed to Lesotho on Saturday to ease security concerns in the landlocked kingdom after the killing of the country’s top army commander in September. The move by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), a regional bloc, was approved in September …

Lome, Togo | AFP | Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Lome on Saturday for the third time this week to demand the exit of President Faure Gnassingbe, with little sign of progress on promised talks. Gnassingbe, who has ruled Togo for more than 15 years, pledged in …