AFRICA

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Burundi’s press regulator on Friday said it was suspending broadcasts by the BBC and Voice of America (VOA) by local radio stations ahead of a constitutional referendum on May 17. The head of Burundi’s National Communications Council told journalists in the capital Bujumbura that a …

Bangui, Central African Republic | AFP |  An aide to South Sudan’s ambassador to Central Africa was shot and killed apparently by mistake in Bangui on Friday, by men from the Central Office for the Suppression of Banditry (OCRB), government sources told AFP. The incident took place after the OCRB …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa on Friday called for his ruling ZANU-PF party to “humbly” appeal for votes as he launched his campaign ahead of elections expected in July. The election will be the first without Robert Mugabe in power since the country won independence from …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Tanzania’s high court on Friday temporarily suspended a controversial new law that would impose major fees on bloggers and other online media. Due to come into force on Saturday, the law would compel bloggers to pay $900 (750 euros) for a permit, a huge sum …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Four miners were killed and three others were trapped underground after an earthquake hit a gold mine outside Johannesburg, its owners said Friday. Thirteen miners were initially trapped about three kilometres (two miles) below the surface, James Wellsted, spokesman for mining company Sibanye-Stillwater, said …

London, United Kingdom | AFP | Democratic Republic of Congo’s government is seeking to reclassify swathes of two UNESCO-listed parks so that oil exploration can be carried out there, an investigative group said. The London-based NGO Global Witness said it had seen documents about a scheme to “redraw the boundaries” …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Flooding across Kenya triggered by weeks of torrential rain has left 112 people dead and displaced hundreds of thousands of others, the Red Cross said Friday. Kenya Red Cross Secretary General Abbas Gullet made an appeal for $5 million (four million euros) to help those …

Maputo, Mozambique | AFP | Mozambique’s president said the country’s fragile peace process must not collapse after rebel leader Afonso Dhlakama, who had opened talks with the government, died unexpectedly aged 65. President Filipe Nyusi hailed Dhlakama as “a citizen who has always worked for Mozambique” and said he was …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Four people were killed in the northern Kenyan town of Mandera, which borders Somalia, police said Friday, in an attack blamed on Islamist group Al-Shabaab. The four men, all non-Muslims who were not from the area, were attacked at a remote quarry on Thursday night, …

Addo, South Africa | AFP | Six critically endangered black rhinos were flown from South Africa to Chad on Thursday in a pioneering project to re-introduce the animals to a country where they were wiped out by poaching nearly 50 years ago. The wild black rhinos were loaded onto a …