West African bloc gives G.Bissau 3 days to end deadlock

Mediators from the West African regional bloc ECOWAS on Thursday gave Guinea Bissau a weekend deadline to name a prime minister and end a political deadlock dragging since 2015.

More than three months after legislative elections in March, President Jose Mario Vaz has refused to name his estranged deputy Domingos Simoes Pereira prime minister despite Parliament naming him to form a government.

In February last year, ECOWAS imposed travel restrictions and froze the bank accounts of 19 people in Guinea Bissau it deemed responsible for the crisis but the move did not have an impact.

Sudan prosecutor general sacked after charging Bashir

Sudan's military ruler Thursday sacked the country's prosecutor general, days after charges of corruption were brought against ousted leader Omar al-Bashir as new protests got underway.

The dismissal came as General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan's deputy in the ruling military council announced that the mastermind behind a deadly raid on a protest camp on June 3 had been identified.

Abdallah Ahmed will replace Al-Waleed Sayyed Ahmed as prosecutor general even as the ICC wants the junta to to release Bashir to face charges of crimes against humanity in Darfur at the Hague.

UN reports daily peace accord violations in CA

Armed groups are violating the Central African Republic peace agreement concluded earlier this year, with up to 70 breaches committed every week by armed groups.

The United Nations envoy Mankeur Ndiaye told the Security Council on Thursday that the "the security situation remains fragile" despite the formation of an inclusive government in March.

CAR has pleaded for patience for effective implementation of the peace agreement saying a special court charged with investigating rights abuses since 2003 has started work.

Malian army says several 'terrorists neutralised'

The Malian army said Thursday it had "neutralised several terrorists" during an operation around two villages where 41 people were killed this week in ethnic violence.

The army said it had destroyed several bases, adding that its door-to-door searches had led to the killing, wounding and arrests of insurgents in the forests of Yoro, Gangafani, Bodel and Homobongo.

The ethnic Dogo villages of peasant farmers were attacked on Monday by raiders suspected to be from the Fulani livestock keeping and trading group in tit-for-tat violence.

Hundreds of vultures die in Botswana after eating poisoned elephants

More than 500 endangered vultures died of poisoning after eating the carcasses of three elephants killed by poachers in Botswana.

The government said 537 vultures - mostly the white-backed type - along with two tawny eagles, were found dead in the north of the African country.
Conservationists last week warned of surging elephant poaching in parts of Botswana saying nearly 400 were killed for their ivory tusks in 2017 and 2018.

Botswana has lifted a ban on elephant hunting however claiming that its elephant herds have become unmanageable, causing human-wildlife conflict.

S. African president admits economy 'extremely weak'

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday described the country's economic outlook as "extremely weak" as pledged to create two million jobs in a decade.

Unemployment is near record highs at 27 per cent overall and 50 per cent among the youth as the economy shrinks, travails Ramaphosa attributed to unreliable electricity supply.

The power utility is teetering financially and can only meet its obligations until October as the government crafts a $16 billion rescue package.

EU gives Juba $55 million for relief aid

The European Union has given South Sudan 48.5 million euros ($54.8 million) to alleviate the deepening humanitarian crisis in the war-torn state.

Nearly two million people are internally displaced and almost seven million are in need of emergency food aid after a ravaging war since 2013 followed by a prolonged drought last year.

A peace agreement was signed last but it is yet to take effect after mistrust between President Salva Kiir and former vice president Riek Machar pushed the formation of a government of national unity from last month to November.

US pushes WTO disputes tribunal towards shutdown

World Trade Organization member states are preparing for a shutdown of the body's dispute settlement system, following months of deadlock triggered by the United States.
The WTO's Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), sometimes dubbed the supreme court of world trade, is in crisis due to Washington's refusal to approve any new judges for its appellate division.

They must resolve the impasse by December when the court will not have enough judges to hear cases following regulatory retirements.
WTO members "are beginning to realise that they have to work also with a scenario where no solution is achieved," WTO director general Roberto Azevedo told reporters in Geneva.

The US accuses the court of encroaching on its sovereignty with several of its rulings.