Africa

A Sudanese government source says President Omar al-Bashir has stepped down and that consultation is underway to form a transitional council. Adel Mahjoub Hussein, the Sudanese minister of production and economic resources in North Darfur, told the Dubai-based al-Hadath TV on Thursday that, “There are consultations to form a military …

Libya’s UN-backed government says 21 people have been killed and 27 wounded in fighting near the capital, Tripoli. Earlier the UN called for a two-hour truce so casualties and civilians could be evacuated, but it was unclear if there was any lull. Rebel forces under Gen Khalifa Haftar have advanced …

This week’s execution of a Nigerian woman in Saudi Arabia over drug-related charges has drawn criticism from international human rights groups and the Nigerian government. Kudirat Adesola Afolabi, a mother of two and a widow, was found guilty of smuggling drugs into Saudi Arabia and executed Monday, Nigeria’s Ministry of …

Forces loyal to Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar say they have advanced into the southern outskirts of the country’s capital city and seized the former Tripoli International Airport in a dangerous escalation. Ahmed Mismari, a spokesman for Haftar’s self-proclaimed Libyan National Army (LNA), said the forces were in full control of …

At least 50 people were killed in clashes with bandits in northwest Nigeria, which has been riven by cattle rustling and kidnapping, the state government said on Friday. The speaker of Zamfara state parliament, Sunusi Rikiji, told reporters the deaths happened on Tuesday in Sakajiki village, in the Kauran Namoda …

The Ethiopian Airlines crew commanding the Boeing 737 Max 8, which crashed last month and killed all 157 people on board, followed all recommended procedures but couldn’t regain control of the doomed flight, Ethiopian investigators told reporters Thursday morning. Ethiopian Transport Minister Dagmawit Moges said preliminary findings from an investigation …

Forces loyal to Libyan strongman Khalifa Haftar have started advancing on the country’s western cities and districts, with reports of skirmishes already taking place in the south of the capital Tripoli, which is controlled by Libya’s internationally-recognized government of Fayez al-Sarraj. The media office of Haftar’s self-proclaimed Libyan National Army …

Nigerians are ordering pizzas from London and transporting them over 3000 miles using British Airways, the country’s Minister of Agriculture has claimed. According to Audu Ogbeh, the African nation’s new international takeaway trend has become “annoying” and officials are desperate to bring an end to it. Speaking at a Senate …

Thousands of people rallied in Algiers on Tuesday calling on President Abdelaziz Bouteflika to quit, keeping up the pressure in weeks of protests that threaten to topple him and the elderly elite that has helped keep him in power for 20 years. Bouteflika, among the veterans of the 1954-62 war …

According to media reports, armed men seized a military base in central Mali, leaving at least 16 soldiers killed. Gunmen attacked and briefly seized a Malian army base, killing at least 16 soldiers and destroying five vehicles in central Mali’s Mopti region, according to officials. According to an eyewitness, a …

Hundreds of thousands of people protested in central Algiers on Friday in the biggest demonstration against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s 20-year rule since unrest began last month. Protesters crammed streets and squares in the capital after Friday prayers, many draped in Algeria’s green, white and red flag. Demonstrations also took place …

Boeing shares slumped almost 13 percent on after the second fatal crash of one of its 737 Max 8 planes. The sell-off wiped around $30bn (£23bn) wiped off Boeing’s valuation leaving the world’s largest plane manufacturer on track to record its biggest single-day trading fall in two decades as concerns …

An Ethiopian Airlines jet has crashed shortly after take-off from Addis Ababa, killing all on board. The airline said 149 passengers and eight crew members were on flight ET302 from the Ethiopian capital to Nairobi in Kenya. It said 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, eight Americans and seven British nationals were …

Forces from eastern Libya who have swept through the south and taken control of remaining oilfields in recent weeks have now reinforced a base in the center of the country and signaled to the capital Tripoli that it may be next. The United Nations, stunned by the southern advance, is …

The United Nations says Burkina Faso is facing a full-blown humanitarian crisis, with almost a million people in need of urgent help. Inter-communal violence and attacks by armed groups have forced tens of thousands from their homes in the past few weeks.

As Algeria’s long-time president Abdelaziz Bouteflika is expected to submit a formal application to run for a fifth term on Sunday, people around the country have mobilized to protest his bid. Tens of thousands of Algerians have taken to the streets across the country to protest against what they claim …

A local official says more than 50 people are missing after a leaking oil pipeline exploded and caused a stampede in southern Nigeria. The Nembe Chiefs Council spokesman, Chief Nengi James-Eriworio, tells The Associated Press that the blast early Friday caused massive oil spillage in the Nembe kingdom in Bayelsa …

A fiery train crash killed at least 20 people at Cairo’s main railway station on Wednesday, Egyptian security and medical sources said. The accident, which sparked a major blaze at the Ramses station, also injured 40 others, the sources said. Egyptian state TV confirmed the figures. The fire broke out …

Gunmen in Somalia have opened fire on a team of roadside workers, killing eight and wounding several others, witnesses say. The workers, who included both men and women, were clearing scrubland alongside a road in the Hawa-Abdi area, some 18 kilometers (11 miles) north outside the capital Mogadishu. “Several gunmen …

  Police in Algiers fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of demonstrators on a third straight day of protests against President Abdelaziz Bouteflika’s plan to run for a fifth term after six years of his near total absence from public life. On Friday thousands took to the streets in the …