AFRICA

Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Somalia has held its first boxing competition in more than three decades, with young fighters in the conflict-torn nation dreaming of a career in international rings. The three-day lightweight boxing competition that wrapped up Sunday took place in the capital Mogadishu, where athletes squared off …

Libreville, Gabon | AFP | The African Union on Saturday warned Gabon to respect constitutional order after a high court intervened in a crisis surrounding the country’s hospitalised President Ali Bongo. A statement by AU Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat emphasised that the 55-member group of African nations had a …

Beni, DR Congo | AFP | Efforts to fight an Ebola outbreak in DR Congo’s restive eastern Beni region were suspended Saturday after clashes just a “few metres” from a local emergency centre and the hotels of several response teams, the health ministry said. UN peacekeepers from the MONUSCO mission …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma on Friday lodged a court application to try to have quashed $2.5-billion corruption case linked to a 1990s arms deal, state prosecutors said. Zuma has been charged with 16 counts of fraud, racketeering and money laundering relating to …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Since starting treatment five years ago, 50-year-old Alice Chenyika kept her blood pressure under control by adhering to doctors’ strict instructions to take two daily doses of nifedipine. Now Zimbabwe’s worsening economic crisis has pushed prices up, and the medicine is far beyond her reach …

Cotonou, Benin | AFP | Benin has a reputation as one of West Africa’s most stable democracies but a series of court cases against opponents of President Patrice Talon has led to accusations that his rivals are being targeted, forcing some to flee the country. One of those opponents is …

United Nations, United States | AFP | Russia warned France on Thursday that it must put aside “parochial national interests” and recognize its peace efforts in the Central African Republic as negotiations continued on a contentious UN Security Council resolution. France has presented a draft resolution that takes aim at …

Beni, DR Congo | AFP | Eight United Nations peacekeepers were killed in an operation against a rebel militia in eastern DR Congo, the UN Security Council said on Thursday. One Tanzanian and seven Malawian peacekeepers were killed, the council said, raising the toll from an earlier count. The deaths …

Antananarivo, Madagascar | AFP | Two former presidents of Madagascar look set to compete in a hotly-contested run-off election in December after partial results Thursday showed they were frontrunners in the first-round vote. With 80 percent of the ballots counted from last week’s vote, Andry Rajoelina was on 39.63 percent …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | A global rights watchdog on Thursday called on Angola to halt mass deportations after more than 400,000 migrants mainly from the Democratic Republic of Congo fled or were expelled from Angola in just weeks. Human Rights Watch (HRW) says migrants have been targeted in …