AFRICA

Banjul, Gambia | AFP |  The Gambia’s new government has asked the United Nations to halt the process of withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC) begun by the regime of former leader Yahya Jammeh. The Hague-based court, set up in 2002, is often accused of bias against African nations, …

Mediator Benjamin Mkapa and Burundi’s  foreign minister Nyamwite at previous talks.Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  Burundi’s government affirmed Tuesday it will shun peace talks with opposition figures planned for later this week in Tanzania, dragging out a political crisis that has stretched for over a year. The talks are intended …

Kampala, Uganda | AFP |  The United States will give over $25 million in humanitarian aid to Uganda, to help the nation cope with a huge influx of refugees fleeing conflict in east Africa, the US ambassador in Kampala said Tuesday. Uganda is hosting more than a million refugees, nearly …

President Kagame makes pledge during visit to SEZ President Kagame on Jan.07 toured the Special Economic Zone where he visited four factories manufacturing different products within the ‘Made in Rwanda’ framework. While addressing business people with operations within the Special Economic Zone at the conclusion of the tour, President Kagame …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  A senior South Sudanese general has quit, accusing President Salva Kiir and top members from his majority Dinka tribe of “ethnic cleansing,” according to a resignation letter obtained by AFP Sunday. Lieutenant-General Thomas Cirillo Swaka is the country’s deputy chief of general staff for logistics …

Luanda, Angola | AFP | Angola announced an investigation Saturday into a stadium stampede that killed at least 17 and injured scores, as the nation’s president, the host team and witnesses blamed the deaths on police error. Children were among the victims in what has been described as the country’s …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  New militia groups, some “opportunists”, others “downright criminal”, have emerged in South Sudan since renewed violence erupted there last July, the head of an international ceasefire monitoring team said Friday. Talking to the press in Nairobi, Festus Mogae, a former president of Botswana who leads …

Banjul, Gambia | AFP | The European Union announced aid worth 225 million euros ($240 million) for The Gambia on Thursday as President Adama Barrow warned that the nation was “virtually bankrupt” due to economic mismanagement by the former regime. The EU froze assistance to The Gambia in December 2014 …

Cape Town, South Africa | AFP | A brawl broke out in South Africa’s parliament Thursday as guards exchanged punches with opposition lawmakers who shouted down President Jacob Zuma as he tried to deliver his state of the nation address. In chaotic scenes, guards in white shirts forcibly ejected about …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  Kenya’s High Court on Thursday blocked the government’s decision to close the Dadaab refugee camp — the world’s largest — and to send Somali refugees home. Judge John Mativo ruled that the plan to shut down the camp was unconstitutional and amounted to persecution of …