AFRICA

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudan’s central bank said Wednesday it had received its first overseas fund transfer in US dollars since Washington announced the lifting of a 20-year-old trade embargo against Khartoum. Washington last week announced the lifting of sanctions from this Thursday onwards, saying Khartoum had made progress on …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Several people were injured in protests in Kenya on Wednesday, a day after opposition leader Raila Odinga announced he would quit the presidential race, in a move that plunged the country into uncharted waters. Election officials have been locked in crisis meetings since the decision, as …

Lusaka, Zambia | AFP | Zambia’s justice minister said Wednesday that emergency measures imposed at the height of a political crisis that followed the detention of an opposition leader on treason charges would not be renewed. The southern African nation was earlier this year rocked by soaring tensions that also saw …

Monrovia, Liberia | AFP | Liberia’s election results were delayed on Wednesday by hitches at a number of polling stations, with Vice President Joseph Boakai and footballer George Weah seen as the frontrunners to succeed Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. The National Elections Commission (NEC) is expected to announce the first official results …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | DR Congo’s electoral commission announced Wednesday that the vote to replace President Joseph Kabila expected by the end of the year will not happen before the start of 2019. Kabila officially ended his term in office in December, but he was allowed to stay …

Kenya’s IEBC says yet to receive notice of Odinga withdrawal Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  Kenya’s electoral authorities said Wednesday they had not received formal notice that opposition leader Raila Odinga had quit the presidential race re-run set for October 26, so regarded all original candidates as still on the …

Kigali, Rwanda | MOFA | Uganda’s High Commissioner in Kigali Oliver Wonekha has presented credentials to Rwanda President Paul Kagame at Urugwiro village (Presidential residence). Wonekha informed Kagame that she was aware of the good relations the countries share and promised to build on the successes of her predecessor to uphold …

Allada, BENIN | AFP | From his chair in the middle of a pile of pineapples, Jean-Xavier Satola supervises cutting and packaging, as Benin — Africa’s fourth-biggest exporter of the fruit — starts trading again after an eight-month self-imposed absence. The fields of Allada in southern Benin are a hive of …

Kano, NIGERIA | AFP | Three hundred Boko Haram suspects were officially remanded in custody in Nigeria on Tuesday, as hearings got under way in the first mass trials linked to the Islamist insurgency. The media has been banned on security grounds from attending proceedings at four civilian courts set up …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | “Time for an interview? I have a lot of time at the moment,” said Owino Onyango, sweating as he stepped out of his blacksmith’s shop in Nairobi to talk business, and politics. “Business goes with politics: if politics go down, business also goes down”, said the …