NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta held a rally Saturday April, 16. attended by thousands to celebrate the withdrawal of the crimes against humanity charges against him, his deputy president and others at the International Criminal Court. The rally was opposed by opposition leader Raila Odinga and some civic organizations who say it … Continue reading
When more than 800 people drowned last year on an overcrowded ship bound for Italy’s southernmost isle of Lampedusa, the European Union deployed a round-the-clock flotilla that has saved thousands of lives on what remains one of the world’s most perilous journeys. But one year after Europe’s deadliest migrant disaster, humanitarian and security efforts off … Continue reading
BUJUMBURA, Burundi (AP) — A Burundi official said Sunday that four members of the country’s ruling party were killed in an attack in continuing violence associated with the extended tenure of President Pierre Nkurunziza. The attack was on supporters of the ruling party who had gathered for an environmental clean-up exercise, said Jerome Ntakarutimana, chief … Continue reading
PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — South Africa’s former Olympic track star Oscar Pistorius appeared briefly in a Pretoria court where a judge scheduled five days in June to determine his sentence for murdering his girlfriend. The sentencing hearing for Pistorius will be held from June 13 to 17 at the North Gauteng High Court in … Continue reading
MAROUA, Cameroon (AP) — Here on the front line against Boko Haram, no one boasts of having “technically” won the war. More than four months after Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari made such a claim, the extremists still crisscross international borders, avoiding direct confrontations with U.S.-backed African forces while refocusing on soft targets like marketplaces and … Continue reading
YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) — Some 2,000 illegally trafficked elephant tusks and hundreds of finished ivory products erupted in a ball of fire Tuesday as Cameroonian authorities conducted what was believed to be one of the largest burnings of poached wildlife goods in African history. Setting the pyre aflame in a sandy square in Cameroon’s capital, … Continue reading
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court terminated the case against Kenya’s deputy president and ended his trial Tuesday, saying there was insufficient evidence he was involved in deadly violence that erupted after his country’s 2007 presidential election. The presiding judge wrote in the majority decision that the reason for the lack of … Continue reading
TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — One of Libya’s rival governments resigned on Tuesday, a step that helps efforts by a new, U.N.-brokered unity government to assert itself in the capitol, Tripoli, despite opposition from some local militias. In a statement, the Tripoli-based National Salvation Government said it would “cease duties” as executive authority, and therefore absolve … Continue reading
KANO, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria’s military has opened a camp to rehabilitate Boko Haram fighters who have surrendered and are repentant, according to a statement Wednesday that urged other fighters to abandon the Islamic insurgency that has claimed 20,000 lives in six years. The military also said it has rescued 11,595 civilian hostages in attacks … Continue reading
JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — Armed South Sudanese rebels have begun taking up positions in the capital, a risky but crucial step to end two years of war. The Associated Press and other journalists on Thursday toured one of the rebel camps where fighters dressed in green fatigues stood in semi-circle formation, chanting call-and-response war … Continue reading
CAIRO (AP) — For more than two decades, a team of psychiatrists in downtown Cairo have provided a unique service in Egypt: Therapy for people who say they are victims of torture. Now authorities are trying to shut down the Nadeem Center, housed in an apartment building off a street full of auto parts dealers … Continue reading
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A South African court ruled Thursday that Nelson Mandela’s ex-wife, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, has no rights to his rural home. The court in Mthatha town dismissed Madikizela-Mandela’s claim to the Qunu property, where the anti-apartheid leader who became South Africa’s first black president in 1994 is buried. The couple divorced in 1996 and … Continue reading
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — More than 100 girls and women have come forward with new sexual abuse accusations against international peacekeepers in Central African Republic, the U.N. said Thursday, calling allegations that a French military commander forced three girls to have sex with a dog “shocking to the core.” The revelations dramatically expand an already … Continue reading
MONROVIA, Liberia (AP) — A new case of Ebola has been confirmed in Liberia, the World Health Organization said Friday, a setback for the country which had been declared free from Ebola transmissions in January. Health authorities at the Redemption Hospital in the densely-populated New Kru Town suburbs of Monrovia said a 30-year-old woman died … Continue reading
ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Fuel lines stretched for more than a kilometer (half-mile) on Friday in Nigeria’s capital because of a fuel shortage in sub-Saharan Africa’s top oil-producing country. Drivers in Abuja groaned and shouted in frustration when one station closed because it was apparently out of fuel. Smaller lines formed outside private gas stations … Continue reading
CAIRO (AP) — Radar scans of King Tutankhamun’s burial chamber have revealed two hidden rooms, a tantalizing discovery that could resolve a mystery as old as the pyramids: What was the fate of Egypt’s beautiful Queen Nefertiti? At a packed Cairo news conference Thursday to announce the find in King Tut’s tomb in Luxor, Antiquities … Continue reading
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Villain or scapegoat? A wealthy business family in South Africa that has been criticized for allegedly improper links to President Jacob Zuma is trying to change the negative narrative. In a two-page spread Friday in a newspaper that it owns, the Gupta family denied it is corrupt but did not directly address … Continue reading
DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Senegalese residents on Sunday voted on a constitutional referendum that could see sweeping constitutional reforms including a reduction of presidential powers and terms from seven to five years, on a continent where many leaders try to hold onto power. More than 5 million people are expected to vote Sunday to determine … Continue reading
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — The collapse of a building complex under construction has killed 34 mainly foreign workers in Nigeria’s commercial capital of Lagos, officials said Thursday. National Emergency Management Agency’s spokesman Ibrahim Farinloye said 13 people were saved from the rubble in the rescue operation that started after the Tuesday pre-dawn collapse and ended … Continue reading
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A South African teenager vacationing in Mozambique may have found part of a wing from missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, which his family dismissed as “rubbish” and his mother nearly threw away, he said Friday. On Dec. 30, Liam Lotter was strolling on a beach in southern Mozambique, near the resort town … Continue reading
TUNIS, Tunisia (AP) — Libya’s U.N.-sponsored unity government was gearing up to assume power on Sunday March 12, although major concerns remained over its chances of successfully setting up shop in Tripoli, where some of its security officials were briefly detained and several militias have openly threatened it. In a statement late Saturday, the Government … Continue reading
RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Up to 1 million Moroccans marched through their capital Sunday March 13, to protest the U.N. secretary-general’s remarks about the contested Western Sahara territory. It was an unusually massive show of public anger for Morocco, and was encouraged by leading political parties. Morocco considers the vast mineral-rich Western Sahara as its … Continue reading
GRAND-BASSAM, Ivory Coast (AP) — Survivors of the first attack by Islamic extremists in Ivory Coast described scenes of confusion and fear as the jihadists gunned down defenseless civilians at a beachfront resort town. The attack left 16 dead. Those who make a living off tourism believed the attack on three hotels Sunday would deal … Continue reading
JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Students were ordered on Thursday to abandon a South African university, leaving behind charred, smoldering buildings after protests turned violent. North-West University said protesting students burned an administration building and science center at the campus in Mahikeng (also called Mafikeng) on Wednesday night. Student protests have erupted across South Africa, often … Continue reading
THIES, Senegal (AP) — Deep in the desert a loud explosion blows the roof off a Chevy Suburban, scattering car parts amid flames and black smoke. Earlier, a Mercedes Benz was blown up, its doors flying open. The recent explosions mimicked attacks by Islamic extremists, and are part of U.S.-led training of West African forces … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 