AFRICA

Kano, Nigeria | AFP | At least 25 people were killed when armed men raided two villages in a northern Nigerian state wracked by cattle rustling and kidnapping for ransom, witnesses and the police said on Friday. Gunmen on motorcycles on Wednesday invaded the villages of Gidan Halilu and Gidan …

Paris, France | AFP | US planemaker Boeing on Friday said it had agreed deals worth an overall $9.3 billion to sell 50 jets to Nigeria’s Green Air and 30 to Saudi carrier flyadeal. The company lauded the Nigeria accord, which includes a further 50 options, as the largest signed …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The African Union has asked Burundi to reduce its contribution to an African peacekeeping force in Somalia by a thousand men under a progressive pullout from the country by the AU. The AU made the request through a diplomatic document called a note verbale, requesting …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP |  Sudan deployed troops in the capital Khartoum and other cities on Friday, witnesses said, after eight demonstrators were killed in clashes with riot police during protests over increased bread prices. A government decision to raise the price of a loaf of bread this week from …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Six people were killed when a plane chartered by DR Congo’s election commission crashed near Kinshasa airport, sources said Friday. The Antonov 26 crashed Thursday as it was about to land after delivering election material to Tshikapa in the centre of the country, a …

Antananarivo, Madagascar | AFP | Former president Andry Rajoelina on Friday took an early lead in Madagascar’s election count with a clear advantage over his rival Marc Ravalomanana, according to partial official results. With about one-third of polling stations counted, Rajoelina had 54.85 percent of the vote and Ravalomanana had …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | A journalist was arrested and “violently beaten” in Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday for covering a meeting of opposition presidential hopeful Martin Fayulu, a media rights group said. Rodrigue Ndakazieka, described as a “journalist-technician” with a Kwilu province radio station, in the west …

Paris, France | AFP | Africa’s second largest country, Democratic Republic of Congo, is rich in raw materials and minerals but cursed by deadly violence, insurgencies, graft and poverty. Presidential elections were scheduled for Sunday, but electoral authorities delayed the vote by seven days until December 30 after a warehouse …

Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Eleven young women were arrested in the northern Nigerian city of Kano for allegedly planning a lesbian wedding, the Islamic law-enforcement agency, the Hisbah, told AFP Thursday. The suspects were arrested on Monday by a team of Hisbah personnel while making last minute preparations for …

Antananarivo, Madagascar | AFP | Vote counting in Madagascar’s presidential election was roiled by accusations of fraud on Thursday as the two candidates both claimed victory in a stand-off that has raised fears of instability on the Indian Ocean island. Andry Rajoelina and Marc Ravalomanana, both former presidents and long-time …