AFRICA

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Burundi’s government has launched a fundraising drive for elections in 2020, presented as “voluntary” but condemned by rights groups as “organised robbery”. Western electoral aid was cut in 2015, when Burundi was plunged into crisis as President Pierre Nkurunziza sought — and went on to …

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | AFP | The bodies of 14 Tanzanian peacekeepers killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo by suspected Ugandan rebels were repatriated Monday, where the defence minister welcomed them as “heroes”. The arrival of the plane carrying 14 white coffins covered with the UN’s blue flag was …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Egypt and Russia signed a final contract on Monday for the building of Egypt’s first nuclear power plant, during a visit to Cairo by President Vladimir Putin. The contract to build the plant in Dabaa on the Mediterranean coast was signed during a live ceremony shown …

Algiers, Algeria | AFP | Up to 6,000 Africans who fought for the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group in Iraq and Syria could return home, the African Union’s top security official warned Sunday, calling on countries to prepare for the threat. Smail Chergui, the AU’s commissioner for peace and security, said …

  Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Old alliances between North Korea and several African nations forged at the height of the Cold War will not be swept away easily. While threats from the United States and UN sanctions have forced many governments on the continent to keep their distance …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The bodies of 15 UN peacekeepers from Tanzania killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo will be repatriated in the coming days, the Tanzanian army said Sunday. The soldiers were all members of the Tanzania People’s Defence Forces participating in a UN peacekeeping operation in the …

THIS WEEK: South Sudan buys surveillance cameras to curb crime Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | On Dec.04, the government of South Sudan launched a drone security system in the capital Juba to curb crime in the war torn country. Speaking at the launch, President Salva Kiir said with the …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  Kenya’s opposition has postponed a ceremony to swear in its leader Raila Odinga as a parallel president after a controversial poll it boycotted, the party said Sunday. The National Super Alliance (NASA) had planned to inaugurate Odinga on Tuesday — Kenya’s independence day. The veteran …

Tripoli, Libya | AFP | Italy and Libya will set up a joint commission in a bid to fight back against people traffickers and tackle the problem of illegal migration, the Tripoli government said Saturday. The announcement was made after talks in the Libyan capital between Italian Interior Minister Marco …

Casablanca, Morocco | AFP | Chinese electric car manufacturer BYD on Saturday signed an agreement to open a factory near the Moroccan city of Tangiers to build battery-powered vehicles, officials said. BYD will become the third car manufacturer, after Renault and Peugeot of French, to construct cars in the North …