Johannesburg (AFP) - Equatorial Guinea coach Esteban Becker has become the first casualty of 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying after a 3-0 loss in Senegal at the weekend. A national football federation spokesman in the small, oil-rich central African state confirmed Tuesday that the out-of-contract Argentine would not be offered a new one. ...

Tunis (AFP) - Tunisia on Tuesday launched a special green police unit aimed at dealing with the proliferation of waste, a scourge that has worsened dramatically since the 2011 revolution. May God help you -- it's a very difficult mission, Prime Minister Youssef Chahed said at the launch of the unit, with their new uniforms and GPS-equipped p ...

Bamako (AFP) - Mali's anti-corruption office launched a crackdown on tens of thousands of civil servants Tuesday, setting them an end of August deadline to prove they earned their income honestly. Those who fail to do so will be sacked and could face fines and even jail terms, Moumouni Guindo, head of the Central Office against Illicit Enrichmen ...

Lusaka (AFP) - Zambia's parliament on Tuesday suspended 48 opposition lawmakers who boycotted President Edgar Lungu's address to legislators in March to protest his contested electoral victory. The lawmakers from the United Party for National Development (UPND) avoided Lungu's address claiming he was not the legitimate winner of the contested Au ...

Luanda (AFP) - Five Angolan Muslims who have been in detention since December for spreading radical views online and allegedly planning an attack, have denied swearing loyalty to the Islamic State group, their lawyer said Tuesday. The accusation that these young Muslims have sworn allegiance and obedience to the Islamic State is based on assump ...

Strasbourg (France) (AFP) - The EU launched legal action Tuesday against Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic for refusing to take in their share of refugees under a controversial solidarity plan. The move shows the frustration in Brussels over the scheme, which aimed to relocate 160,000 migrants from frontline migrant crisis states Italy and ...

Luanda (AFP) - Angola's ruling party has bowed to public criticism of a proposed law banning all abortions and instead accepted a revised bill allowing terminations in cases of rape or maternal health risk. The about-turn follows a rare rally in March when roughly 200 demonstrators protested against the proposed bill under heavy police surveilla ...

Nigeria, Abuja, 12 June 2017 ndash; The African Development Bank (AfDB) has signed agreements for a corporate loan to finance the expansion of Afe Babalola University (ABUAD) in Ado Ekiti, Nigeria. The expansion plan consists of construction of new facilities - including a 400-bed teaching hospital, an industrial research park, a post-g ...

Berlin, Germany, June 12, 2017 ndash; The President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, joined leaders from African countries and G20 members in Berlin on Monday to discuss opportunities to enhance the business environment and increase investment in Africa. A common refrain on the opening day of the two-day conference nda ...

Vienna (AFP) - The world has a new puppetmaster. From his New York home, US financier-cum-philanthropist George Soros has manufactured Europe's migration crisis, backed a coup in Macedonia and sponsored protests in Hungary. At least that's what his detractors say, and there are many. From the Kremlin via Skopje to the power corridors of Wa ...

Conakry (AFP) - Footage of Guinea's President Alpha Conde, 79, berating and mocking students has morphed into a national debate about his conduct, forcing the government to repeat a promise to provide university-goers with tablet computers. Tensions began at a student forum held on June 1, when Conde ranted at a booing section of young attendees ...

As the rate of animal poaching continues to rise, conservationists have begun calling for stronger laws and deterrents to wildlife crimes. African governments and non-governmental organizations are starting to take wildlife crimes as seriously as other transnational crimes such as drug smuggling and human trafficking. In recent years countries h ...

Agadez (Niger) (AFP) - As Africa's smuggling capital, a dusty city in central Niger has found its local football team boosted by an unexpected influx of new players: migrants in limbo awaiting passage to Europe. Located on the edge of the Sahara, Agadez is a major transit point for migrants hoping to travel north to seek work in either Libya or ...

Warsaw (AFP) - The migrants pouring into Europe have changed routes: the crossing between Turkey and Greece is practically closed, but ever greater numbers are risking their lives to cross the Mediterranean between Libya and Italy. A criminal industry has flourished, while the European Union has beefed up its border agency Frontex to try to chec ...

Kano (Nigeria) (AFP) - Uche's real journey had yet to begin but he had already spent four days in the northern Nigerian city of Kano after travelling on public buses and potholed roads from Imo state in the southeast. He planned to go to Agadez, a transit town on the southern edge of the Sahara desert in central Niger, take a truck to Sebha, in ...