AFRICA

Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | At least five people were killed and ten wounded in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on Sunday when a car bomb detonated on a busy road, the security ministry said. There was no immediate claim of responsiblity but the bombing fits the pattern of Al-Qaeda linked Shabaab …

Kano, Nigeria | AFP | At least 69 people died in a Boko Haram ambush of an oil exploration team in northeast Nigeria, as three men kidnapped by the jihadists made a video appeal. Experts said the attack — Boko Haram’s bloodiest this year — underscored the persistent threat it …

Rabat, Morocco | AFP | King Mohammed VI of Morocco on Saturday pardoned more than a thousand people who were under arrest for taking part in protests in the troubled northern Rif region, the justice ministry announced. The monarch pardoned a total of 1,178 detainees, including a number who had …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  South Africa’s firebrand opposition leader Julius Malema on Saturday accused Zambia’s president of apartheid style repression for detaining a leading opposition politician on treason charges. Hakainde Hichilema, leader of Zambia’s United Party for National Development (UPND), has been in detention since April and Zambian …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  Two people were killed in a crash of football fans on Saturday at the South African stadium that hosted the 2010 World Cup final, police and officials said. The incident occurred at a pre-season local derby between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, the country’s …

Kampala, Uganda | AFP |  Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic resigned as Uganda coach on Saturday, six months after leading the team to the Africa Cup of Nations for the first time in 38 years. The 47-year-old Serbian confirmed he was terminating his contract with the Cranes in a row over unpaid …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  At least one assailant stormed into the home of Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto on Saturday and injured a policeman, less than two weeks before the country votes in high-stakes polls, the police and security sources said. Ruto was not present during the attack, the …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Unknown gunmen attacked the home of Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto on Saturday seriously injuring a policeman, less than two weeks before the country votes in high-stakes polls, two security sources told AFP. Ruto was not home during the attack. An officer from the elite police …

Antananarivo, Madagascar | AFP | A veteran political figure in Madagascar has died of gunshot wounds at his home, police said on Friday, after posting about personal problems on social media. Mamy Rakotoarivelo, a former parliament speaker and a key figure in talks that resolved a political crisis that dogged the …

Devolution has demystified local power and emboldened voters to assert themselves, leading to shocks all the way up the political pyramid Nairobi, Kenya | AFRICAN ARGUMENTS |  Kenya’s 2017 elections are set to be the country’s most interesting yet. The political landscape has shifted, and whatever else these elections turn out to be …