Madrid, Spain | AFP | Spanish authorities said Wednesday they had transferred migrants being controversially accommodated at a jail just two weeks after an Algerian man was found hanging in his cell in an apparent suicide contested by his brother. The lawyer for the victim’s family said some of the migrants …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | European Union election monitors said Wednesday that Kenya’s flawed presidential poll had “weakened” the country’s democracy in a critical report that triggered an angry government response. President Uhuru Kenyatta won a second term in an October rerun after his initial victory was nullified by the Supreme …

N’Djamena, Chad | AFP | The cash-strapped central African nation of Chad has suspended a plan to reduce the salaries of its civil servants, Prime Minister Albert Pahimi Padacke announced on Wednesday. The plan, announced earlier this month, aims to ease the strains on a budget badly hit by a nearly …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s ruling ANC party met behind closed doors Wednesday as pressure grew on President Jacob Zuma to step down ahead of elections next year when the party risks losing power. Zuma was replaced as party leader by his deputy Cyril Ramaphosa in December, and …

Tripoli, Libya | AFP | The UN’s political chief pushed Wednesday in Libya for the country to hold credible elections this year in a bid to ensure a peaceful shift from a failed unity deal. “The goal is a Libyan goal to end the transition phase with inclusive peaceful process that …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Ethiopia’s parliament has passed a law banning the adoption of Ethiopian children by foreigners, a government spokesman and diplomats told AFP on Wednesday. The vote follows an April moratorium on foreign adoptions issued by Ethiopia’s government which led to the suspension of dozens of cases, …

Niamey, Niger | AFP | A total of 141 civilians in Niger were killed, kidnapped or wounded by the Boko Haram jihadist group last year, a sharp fall compared with 2016, the UN said on Wednesday. The toll in 2016 was 227 after 214 in 2015, the Office for the Coordination …

Washington, United States | AFP | Several Democratic US congresswomen will wear black to President Donald Trump’s upcoming State of the Union Address in solidarity with the “MeToo” movement opposing sexual harassment, a female lawmaker said Wednesday. Democrat Jackie Speier tweeted that she and other Democratic women in the House of …

Bamako, Mali | AFP | A regional bank official and the head of an African tech initiative both announced candidacies for the Malian presidency on Wednesday, as the 2018 race for the troubled Sahel nation heats up. Modibo Kone, a rural development expert at the West African Development Bank, and Hamadoun …

Washington, United States | AFP | For the first time in many years, the World Bank’s outlook for the global economy is better than expected rather than worse, with all regions seeing improved growth, according to its latest forecast released Tuesday. However, the bank warns that countries must make investments to …