AFRICA

Yaoundé, Cameroon | AFP | Seventy-nine school students were kidnapped on Monday in an English-speaking region of Cameroon where separatists are fighting an armed campaign for independence, a government source said. The students were abducted along with their principal, a teacher and a driver, the official said, as a source …

Dakar, Senegal | AFP | A two-day African security forum was set to open in Dakar on Monday amid concerns about funding for a much-trumpeted initiative to bind five Sahel countries into an anti-terror force. Less than a quarter of the roughly 400 million euros ($455 million) pledged for the …

Antananarivo, Madagascar | AFP | Thirty-six candidates will do battle to win the presidency in polls on November 7. The three frontrunners are former presidents and here are their profiles: – Ravalomanana: milkman-turned-millionaire – Marc Ravalomanana, 68, was ejected from power in 2009 and is looking to get his revenge …

Douala, Cameroon | AFP | Police in Cameroon arrested 19 supporters of opposition leader Maurice Kamto, who disputes the results of October presidential elections, at protests against President Paul Biya on Sunday, local authorities and witnesses told AFP. The arrests happened at two different places in the town of Bafoussam …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s embattled home affairs minister said Sunday he would not resign after the country’s public standards watchdog said he lied under oath and following the leaking of a private sex video. “I’m not going to resign,” minister Malusi Gigaba told the privately owned …

Uganda, surrounding countries face increasing risk as Trump blocks American experts Kampala, Uganda | AGENCIES | One of the largest Ebola outbreaks in history shows no signs of slowing — and the Trump administration has barred U.S. health experts who want to help at the outbreak’s epicenter in the Democratic Republic …

Malabo, Equatorial Guinea | AFP | Equatorial Guinea’s ruling party has expelled 42 of its members for their alleged role in a coup bid late last year, party sources told AFP Sunday. The ruling Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (PDGE) decided to expel them for their role in the failed …

Gabon opposition figure rallies support as president hospitalised Libreville, Gabon | AFP |  Gabonese opposition politician Jean Ping on Saturday repeated his claim to have won 2016 elections as President Ali Bongo Ondimba remained in hospital in Saudi Arabia. Ping has continued to describe himself as “the elected president” following …

Beni, DR Congo | AFP |  Rebels killed at least seven civilians and abducted 15 others, including children, in fresh overnight raids in the far eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, civilian and military sources said Sunday. Fighters of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) staged two raids Saturday night in the …

Douala, Cameroon | AFP | Cameroon opposition candidate Maurice Kamto has called for an independent recount of last month’s presidential poll, urging the international community to “assume its responsibilities.” Kamto, who according to official results, came second with 14.23 percent of the vote behind incumbent Paul Biya, posted the appeal …