AFRICA

The Hague, Netherlands | AFP |  The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor has described decisions by three African countries to withdraw as a “setback”, as she vowed that the tribunal will continue its work on the continent. “You could expect a setback as the ICC started to make more progress,” …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP |  US oil and gas group ExxonMobil says it has discovered up to one billion barrels of oil in an offshore field in Nigeria, signalling a boost to the country’s crude reserves. The company said in a statement on its website on Thursday that the Owowo …

Maputo, Mozambique | AFP |  The impact of the most severe drought to hit southern Africa in 35 years is expected to worsen in the coming months, a UN climate envoy warned Friday. “The crisis has yet to peak,” Macharia Kamau, special envoy on El Nino and climate, said at …

Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP |  Ivory Coast heads to the polls Sunday for a referendum on a new constitution their president insists will heal a nation beset by violent turmoil, but which the opposition says is dangerously anti-democratic. Given that President Alassane Ouattara’s political foes have called for a …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP |  IMF chief Christine Lagarde said Thursday that Egypt is going through a currency “crisis,” suggesting a quick devaluation to tackle a widening gap between the official and black market rates. Egypt has been struggling to shore up its foreign currency reserves in the political and …

Luanda, Angola | AFP |  Leaders of the Great Lakes region called Thursday for the UN peacekeeping force in strife-torn DR Congo to be bolstered, as fears rise of an upsurge in violence linked to delayed presidential polls. At the end of two-day talks, they called for more contributions to …

United Nations, United States | AFP |  Burundi on Thursday formally notified the United Nations of its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court, dealing a blow to the tribunal seen as a pillar of international justice. South Africa was the first to take the formal step at the United Nations …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  A man was shot and killed by Kenyan police outside the US embassy in the capital Nairobi on Thursday after stabbing an officer with a knife, police said. “The man was shot after stabbing a GSU officer in the hand and left him with injuries,” …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s currency scarcity remains a nightmare that won’t go away, with even Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote feeling the pain. The West African country’s economy has been hammered by the global crash in oil prices — worth 70 per cent of its revenue and the …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP |  Sudanese police fired tear gas on Wednesday to break up a protest in Khartoum against what demonstrators said was a government plan to seize their land, an AFP correspondent reported. Hundreds of people were demonstrating in the East Jreif district of the capital when clashes …