Today: Guinea-Bissau vs Gabon; Cameroon vs Burkina Faso Libreville, Gabon | AFP |  Shock qualifiers Guinea-Bissau face hosts Gabon Saturday in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations opener, hoping to continue a Leicester City-like run in the competition. Traditional underachievers Leicester were the sensational winners of the 2015-2016 English Premier …

Libreville, Gabon | AFP |  CAF executive committee member Ahmad Ahmad said Friday he will challenge long-serving Issa Hayatou in March for the presidency of the African football body. Cameroonian Hayatou, 70, has run CAF since succeeding Sudanese Abdel Halim Muhammad in 1988 and is seeking an eighth four-year term. …

Washington, United States | AFP | US President Barack Obama on Friday took the controversial step of easing economic sanctions against Sudan, trying to improve relations with a country whose leader is accused of war crimes and links to terror. Obama informed Congress that he will lift trade and investment …

Miami, United States | AFP | A girl who was stolen at birth from a Florida hospital 18 years ago has been found in good condition and the woman who raised her has been charged with kidnapping, US authorities said Friday. Kamiyah Mobley, whose abduction was national news, was found …

Gambia’s Barrow to meet west African leaders in Mali Banjul, Gambia | AFP |  President-elect Adama Barrow flew out of The Gambia late Friday to meet west African leaders attending a summit in Bamako with hopes of ending the country’s political crisis, Nigeria’s foreign minister said. “The ECOWAS team has …

Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | Shooting was heard late Friday from inside the main military camp in Abidjan, Ivory’s Coast’s economic capital, witnesses said Friday, days after a brief mutiny by the armed forces. “There were shots, bursts of gunfire coming from the barracks. It stopped and started again,” …

Washington, United States | AFP |  The US House of Representatives on Friday joined the Senate in passing a critical measure that marks the first major step toward repealing outgoing President Barack Obama’s landmark but controversial health care reforms. The House’s party-line vote of 227 to 198 approved a budget …

After a strong Olympics debut where he finished 6th in the 10,000m and 8th in the 5,000m finals, Joshua Cheptegei will hope to emulate this performance off the track when the national cross country championships are held on Saturday at Kololo in Kampala. Cheptegei will face several veterans of cross country …

Paris, France | AFP | FIFA’s decision to expand the World Cup to 48 teams starting with the 2026 tournament prompted one major question: who can host the global showpiece in its revamped format? North America is the favourite and in pole position with other former candidates relegated to outsiders. …

Banjul, Gambia | AFP |  Gambia’s president has warned the international community against interfering in the country’s political crisis, on the eve of talks with west African leaders who will urge him to step aside. On state-run television late Tuesday, Yahya Jammeh lashed out at “an unprecedented level of foreign …