A raid against an Ivorian military barracks in the wee hours of Wednesday night in Abengourou, 220km north-east of Abidjan, left at least one person dead, APA learns here.Corroborating sources reported the attack on the military camp and the police station of the city of Abengourou by unidentified assailants. “One person was found dead near the military camp”, a security source told APA pointing out the ...

Madagascar strongman Andry Rajoelina said Wednesday that presidential elections scheduled for July -- in which he is controversially running -- will probably not be held because international donors have pulled the plug on funding. "The reality is that the international community took the decision to suspend funding," he told reporters, questioning if the July 24 poll would go ahead. The African Union and ...

President Robert Mugabe signed Zimbabwe's new constitution into law Wednesday, clearing the path to crucial elections later this year. The 89-year-old, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from Britain in 1980, signed the document two months after it was overwhelmingly approved by Zimbabweans at a referendum. "This is a happening of joy, great joy indeed," Mugabe said at the signing ceremony, held in a ...

South Africa's political opposition on Wednesday rubbished a government probe that cleared President Jacob Zuma over the use of a military base for a plush Indian wedding. Slamming the investigation as a whitewash, lawmakers demanded that Zuma and his ministers be held accountable for the scandal and questioned the influence of the wedding's well-connected hosts. The South African-based Gupta family sparked ...

Togo authorities on Wednesday banned two protests in the capital Lome planned by the opposition after windows were broken and cars were damaged after a demonstration the previous day. "Let's Save Togo", a coalition of opposition and civil society groups, had on Tuesday begun three days of demonstrations to protest the death in detention of an opposition member and to demand the release of others held in ...

Hospitalised Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is recovering well in Paris and will return home soon, Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci said on Wednesday. "The president is in good health; he will return soon to Algeria. For the moment he is still in France for a few days of recovery," Medelci told Radio France Internationale (RFI). Bouteflika, 76, was flown to Paris for treatment about three weeks ago ...

Chinese vice premier Wang Yang on Wednesday urged Zimbabwe to ensure peace and political stability ahead of elections this year, to safeguard economic growth. "A peaceful and stable political environment is the prerequisite for economic development," Wang told journalists after meeting Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in Harare during a business visit to Zimbabwe. Wang's comments came as President Robert ...

An additional forty corpses killed during the Ivorian post-poll crisis that authorities exhumed were symbolically handed over to their relatives Wednesday during an official ceremony presided over the Ivoirian Justice minister Gnenema Coulibaly , APA noted in the Ivorian commercial capital, Abidjan.Only 22 corpses out of the 40 exhumed were formerly identified. Five coffins wrapped with Cote d'Ivoire's flag ...

Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi appealed Wednesday to the opposition for unity, in the face of criticism he is failing the revolution that brought him to power almost a year ago. "To all those who love Egypt, to the opposition, those who love this country and care for its interests, let's proceed together... help each other, love each other more... and move forward," said Morsi. The Islamist president was ...

While 20 years ago Eritreans danced to celebrate their newly gained independence, on May 24 this year few have much to smile about other than fond memories of happier times. "There is so much to be proud about as a nation," said Emmanuel Tesfai, a former fighter who battled during the 30-year war to win his country's freedom from Ethiopia. "But there is no space for political freedom in the country today," ...