AFRICA

Banjul, Gambia | AFP | The head of a West African force maintaining security in The Gambia told AFP Friday that army officials loyal to veteran former leader Yahya Jammeh were plotting against the new government. West African troops were first sent to The Gambia in January to compel Jammeh to …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  A Kenyan court on Friday cancelled a contract to print presidential ballot papers for next month’s elections after the opposition claimed the winning company had links to President Uhuru Kenyatta. The election commission had awarded the $24 million contract to Dubai-based Al Ghurair. A panel …

Bata, Equatorial Guinea | AFP |  The leaders of the oil-rich African nations of Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Congo will sue Transparency International over a case in France involving allegedly ill-gotten properties worth hundreds of millions, President Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea has said. French human rights lawyer William Bourdon …

East African Court of Justice rules on European Partnership Agreement EPA Arusha, Tanzania| EAST AFRICA COMMUNITY MEDIA |  The First Instance Division of the East African Court had declined to grant orders sought by one Castro Pius from Tanzania, to stop the Partner States which have not signed the European Partnership Agreement …

United Nations, United States | AFP | A global treaty banning nuclear weapons is set to be adopted at the United Nations on Friday despite opposition from the United States, Britain, France and other nuclear powers that boycotted negotiations. Supporters describe the treaty as a historic achievement but the nuclear-armed states …

Juba, South Sudan | AFP | Witnesses described looting and finding a dead body, but the trial of 12 soldiers accused of raping foreign aid workers in Juba proceeded Thursday in the absence of the victims. The chilling attack on a hotel compound during fierce fighting in the South Sudanese capital …

Lome, Togo | AFP | The voodoo follower stood bare-chested with beads around his neck in the centre of the public square in Bè, a working class district of Togo’s capital, Lome. A dozen priests surrounded him as he made incantations, threw soil and water, and gave an offering to …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | A military court in DR Congo on Thursday handed stiff jail terms, including life imprisonment, to eight soldiers for killing civilians in the violence-wracked central Kasai region following mounting pressure from the UN. In less than a year, brutal violence in four central Kasai provinces …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Tanzania’s government must stop issuing threats against rights groups working with teen mothers or campaigning for gay rights, a joint statement from these organisations said Thursday. President John Magufuli and top government officials have issued a series of statements vowing to deregister or charge non-governmental …

Lusaka, Zambia | AFP |  Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Thursday justified imposing a state of emergency by alleging that opposition parties were behind a string of arson attacks intended “to create terror and panic”. Lungu denied he was establishing a dictatorship in Zambia — until recently a relatively stable …