Africa

French President Francois Hollande paid a lightning visit to the Central African Republic on Friday for talks with its new leaders on stabilising and rebuilding the restive nation, while drawing down France’s military presence. Hollande’s visit to the former French colony is sensitive because of accusations that French peacekeepers sexually …

The multinational forces fighting the Islamic extremists of Boko Haram have arrested five of the group’s leaders and freed dozens of captive women and children, Cameroon’s government announced on Saturday. The raids targeting Boko Haram bases in the northern Madawaya forest earlier this month freed 28 children and at least …

Major powers were gathering in the Austrian capital on Monday to discuss the expanding presence of the Islamic State jihadist group in Libya, just across the Mediterranean from Europe. A government of national unity strongly backed by the international community has been slowly asserting its authority in Tripoli since late …

Egyptian courts have in a single day convicted 152 protesters for breaking a law that effectively bans demonstrations, sentencing them to up to five years in prison in a series of short mass trials. The cases against the 152 convicted on Saturday are rooted in events on April 25, when …

Head of the United Nations department for peacekeeping operations on Monday held talks with Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, at the end of his four-day visit to Mali. “My visit is part of the preparations of a report that the UN secretary general will present to the UN Security Council …

Malian national, suspected of being the head of logistics and arms carrier for jihadist groups in southern Mali, was arrested last week in a Bamako suburb by the country’s police, a security source said over the weekend. According to the source, the suspect named Yacouba Toure, was pretending to be …

More than 30 people have been killed in an ongoing intercommunal conflict between the Fulani and Bambara communities in Mali’s central Mopti region, a civil society leader said. Oumar Aldjana, representative for Mali’s Union of Fulani, told Anadolu Agency on Thursday that 33 Fulani civilians have been killed in the …

Tunisian Prime Minister Habib Essid, on Friday, paid an unannounced visit to Libya, the first of a premier of a foreign State after the installation of the Government of National Accord Presidency Council in Tripoli. Prime Minister-designate Faez al-Sarraj pointed out the symbolism of this visit, saying it will undoubtedly …

Egypt’s President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi met Saturday with Libya’s UN-backed Presidential Council Chairperson Fayez Seraj, to discuss counter-terrorism efforts and the situation of Egyptian expatriates in the restive country, according to a statement from the Egyptian Presidential Office.

French President Francois Hollande will fly to the Central African Republic (CAR) next week in a move to further “support stability and peace in the country,” his office announced Friday. Hollande will visit the CAR on May 13 to express support for the peace efforts before heading to Nigeria, according …