Kenyan long-distance runner Rodgers Kwemoi, a world junior 10,000m champion, was on Friday banned for six years for repeated athlete biological passport (ABP) violations.The Athletics Integrity Unit called the violations “extremely serious in nature” with the ban backdated to August 8, 2023 and running until 2029.All his results from July 18, 2016, through to August …

Kenya’s Kwemoi banned for six years for dopingFri, 17 May 2024 15:28:00 GMT Read More »

Lawmakers from President Joe Biden’s Democratic Party on Friday accused House Speaker Mike Johnson of disrespecting Africa after he did not invite Kenyan President William Ruto to address Congress during an upcoming Washington visit.Biden has invited the key US regional ally next week for a state visit — the most prestigious trip a foreign leader …

US Democrats charge disrespect over Kenya leader snub at CongressFri, 17 May 2024 14:42:55 GMT Read More »

Senegal’s Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko has questioned the military presence of former colonial ruler France, which has several bases in the West African nation, saying it impinged on Dakar’s sovereignty.Addressing students at Dakar University on Thursday, Sonko also slammed French President Emmanuel Macron for turning a blind eye to political “persecution” in Senegal.Sonko, a firebrand …

Senegal PM questions French military presenceFri, 17 May 2024 11:19:21 GMT Read More »

A small Kenyan opposition party has filed a new lawsuit seeking to prevent the government from sending police to violence-plagued Haiti as part of a UN-backed mission.The Thirdway Alliance Kenya and its leaders Ekuru Aukot and  Miruru Waweru lodged the complaint on Thursday, arguing that the government had “blatantly disregarded” a January court order prohibiting …

Kenya’s Haiti deployment faces new court challengeFri, 17 May 2024 10:48:10 GMT Read More »

Chad’s junta leader General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno won the African nation’s May 6 presidential election with 61 percent of the vote, according to final results announced Thursday.The Constitutional Council, which declared the winner, also rejected a bid by Prime Minister Succes Masra to annul the result.Masra, who had claimed victory, said in a social …

Chad junta chief officially wins electionThu, 16 May 2024 20:44:59 GMT Read More »

Ethiopian running legend Kenenisa Bekele will return to the Olympics for the first time in 12 years after he was named in a 10-member team for the Paris Games on Thursday.Bekele, 41, last competed in the Games in London in 2012 when he finished fourth in the men’s 10,000m before being overlooked for the 2016 …

Ethiopian legend Bekele returns to Olympics after 12 yearsThu, 16 May 2024 19:49:48 GMT Read More »

Tunisian President Kais Saied on Thursday criticised foreign “interference” after an international backlash over recent arrests of journalists, political commentators, and lawyers, which he defended as lawful.Civil society in the North African country condemned the arrests as a crackdown on dissent in the country that saw the onset of the Arab Spring.Saied, who seized sweeping …

Tunisia president blasts foreign criticism of arrestsThu, 16 May 2024 17:10:32 GMT Read More »

A Nigerian state lawmaker’s plan to sponsor the marriage of 100 brides orphaned by violence has sparked a row over religious and cultural norms and calls for the courts to intervene.Abdulmalik Sarkindaji, the speaker of the local assembly in northwest Niger State, planned to support the marriage of the orphans, who have all lost relatives …

Nigeria lawmaker’s plan for mass wedding of orphans sparks uproarThu, 16 May 2024 17:02:04 GMT Read More »

Generations of schoolchildren have grown up being taught that Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti was the first woman to drive a car in Nigeria.But the director of a new film about the pioneering women’s rights activist told AFP that the anecdote offered a very limited view of Ransome-Kuti’s achievements. “She is so much more,” said Bolanle Austen-Peters, whose acclaimed …

Nigerian women’s rights pioneer celebrated in new biopicThu, 16 May 2024 15:09:09 GMT Read More »

Hundreds of lawyers, activists and others demonstrated on Thursday in the Tunisian capital over the arrest of two lawyers in police raids on the national bar association, AFP journalists said.Protesters gathered near the main courthouse in Tunis as police barred journalists from entering the building at the behest of the prosecutor, reporters were told.Inside, black-robed lawyers …

Tunisia lawyers protest after colleagues arrestedThu, 16 May 2024 12:43:21 GMT Read More »