AFRICA

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP |  A Nigerian court seized $21 million on Monday from bank accounts linked to a former oil minister accused of corruption as investigators continue to claw back her fortune. Federal high court judge Abdulazeez Anka ordered the immediate forfeiture of 7.6 billion naira ($21 million, 17.9 …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  Judges at Kenya’s Supreme Court on Monday began hearing an opposition petition challenging the result of the August 8 presidential election. The seven judges have until September 1 to rule in the case in which opposition leader Raila Odinga alleges computer hacking and fraud handed …

  Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  A ban on plastic bags came into force in Kenya on Monday in a bid to slow pollution, with offenders liable to jail time or hefty fines. The ban on the use, manufacture and importation of plastic carrier bags was carried through after the …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Authorities have banned imports of several popular consumer products in the west of the Democratic Republic of Congo for six months to fight smuggling, Trade Minister Jean-Lucien Busa said Monday. “We have decided on the temporary restriction of imports in the western part of …

Niamey, Niger | AFP | Authorities in Niger urged thousands of residents on Sunday to evacuate homes threatened by heavy rains that lashed Niamey, following floods that have killed 16 people in the capital since June. “I am calling on all residents to evacuate the flood zones and immediately leave homes …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP |  President Omar al-Bashir said on Sunday that the crisis in neighbouring Libya has impacted Sudan, with human traffickers using the East African country’s territories to commit “cross-border crimes”. Speaking at a joint press conference with visiting UN-backed Libyan premier Fayez al-Sarraj, Bashir also said security …

Paris, France | AFP |  Leaders from seven African and European countries meet in Paris on Monday for a mini-summit to discuss how to ease the EU’s migrant crisis. French President Emmanuel Macron has invited his counterparts from Niger and Chad as well as the head of the Libyan unity …

   Juba, South Sudan | AFP |  An American journalist has been killed while covering clashes between government and rebel forces in restive South Sudan, local officials and the US mission in Juba said on Sunday. A spokesman confirmed the clashes had resulted in 19 deaths. Christopher Allen, a freelance reporter …

President aims at industrialising Rwanda in new 7-year term President Paul Kagame on Aug.18 pledged to work for Rwandans with pride and honour as he made his inauguration speech at Amahoro National Stadium in the country’s capital, Kigali. The major highlight of the inauguration, which came 14 days after Kagame …

  Denys Reva | ISS TODAY | The recent liberation of Mosul in Iraq is just one of many setbacks for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Military upsets, territorial losses and financial pressures have reportedly decreased the number of active fighters in the group from an estimated …