• Brexit: May to step down on June 7

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday announced she will step down as Conservative leader on June 7 after failing to convince MPs to support her Brexit deal.

In a statement outside her Downing Street residence May said her inability to deliver Brexit “is and will always remain a matter of deep regret to me."

• South Sudan lifts ban on night clubs

South Sudan has revoked an order banning night clubs in Juba city. South Sudan Artists Union confirmed the revocation late Thursday.

The revocation came after days of pressure from human rights activists, musicians and artists.

Jubek State Governor Augustino Jaddalah had banned all night clubs two weeks ago saying the measure would combat immorality.

Musicians often organize night concerts in the city to earn a living as the impoverished population cannot support reliable record sales.

• Sudan's junta swears in new intelligence chief

Sudan's junta has appointed a new military intelligence chief Lt-Gen Jamal-Eddin Omer Ibrahim to replace Lt-Gen Mustafa Mohamed Mustafa who resigned for health reasons.

The appointment in the midst of a standoff with protest leaders over control of a proposed sovereign council is the latest indicator that the military council is entrenching its reign.

Its diplomatic acceptance also continues to grow with the Saudi crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman meeting the junta’s deputy head Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, in Jeddah, on Thursday.

• South Africa announces gender parity in national team bonuses

South Africa's women's football team - Banyana Banyana - will for the first time earn the same amount of bonuses as the men's team when they take part in the Fifa World Cup in June.

The country’s football association boss Danny Jordaan said this would close the pay gap between the team and the men’s team, Bafana Bagana, which will be playng in African Cup of Nations (Afcon) in June in Egypt.

The players will get $22,000 each if their teams are able to reach the last-16 stage of the two tournaments, according to reports.

• Malawi president headed for second term in election count

Malawian President Peter Mutharika is leading his main rival with more than 40 percent of this week’s vote.

With three-quarters of votes counted on Thursday evening, Mutharika was at 40.49 per cent of the vote compared to nearest challenger Lazarus Chakwera with 35.44 per cent, the electoral commission said.

Malawi practices a first-past-the-post democracy with a simple majority needed to give the incumbent a second term.

• Egypt court orders release of Al Jazeera journalist

An Egyptian court ordered the release Thursday of a journalist working for Qatar's Al Jazeera network after nearly two and a half years of detention, a judicial source and a lawyer said.

Mahmoud Hussein, an Egyptian national, was detained in Cairo in 2016 when he returned for a family holiday, on accusations of incitement against state institutions and spreading false news.

Al Jazeera's website said Hussein has been held in custody "without formal charges, a trial or a conviction." The release is expected within days.

• South Africa pushes for Zuma's trial in French arms scandal

South Africa's prosecution on Thursday pushed for ex-president Jacob Zuma to face a corruption trial for a case dating back to the 1990s, saying if he did not it would appear he received special treatment.

Zuma, 77, is accused of taking bribes from French defence company Thales during his time as a provincial economy minister and later as deputy president of the African National Congress (ANC) in the 1990s.

He has been charged with 16 counts of fraud, racketeering and money laundering relating to a multi-million-dollar arms deal dating back to before he took office in 2009.

• DR Congo detains 25 over Yumbi massacre: minister

DR Congo authorities said Thursday they had detained 25 people in a probe into a massacre in a remote northwest region last December that left hundreds of dead.

The arrests follow testimony from 105 victims and 83 witnesses who appeared before the military judicial investigators, Human Rights Minister Marie-Ange Mushobekwa said.

According to the UN, 535 people, including women and children, were slaughtered between December 16 and 17 in three villages in Yumbi, a territory around 300 kilometers (180 miles) north of Kinshasa.

• Eritrea back in regional football body after six years in the cold

Eritrea has been handed the right to host a Council for East and Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA) youth tournament this year after been accepted back into the fold.

Cecafa banned Eritrea from its activities six years ago because of tensions with Ethiopia. Cecafa secretary general Nicholas Musonye said the country would host the inaugural under-15 tournament from August 17 to September 1 in its capital, Asmara.