AFRICA

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  An independent Tanzanian newspaper has been suspended for two years, a government spokesman said Tuesday, accusing the publication of sedition and endangering national security. The critical Mwanahalisi newspaper was shut after publishing a letter on Monday from a reader containing “insults” against President John Magufuli …

Tunis, Tunisia | AFP | Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar visited neighbouring Tunisia on Monday for talks with President Beji Caid Essebsi, who offered to act as a mediator between rival Libyan factions. Libya, which plunged into chaos after the ouster and killing of dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, has two …

Kigali, Rwanda | AFP | Rwandan President Paul Kagame has met with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in New York for rare talks, Kigali said Tuesday, as diplomatic ties remain icy over the 1994 genocide. Kigali has long accused France of complicity in the genocide of some 800,000 mostly ethnic …

Lome, Togo | AFP |  Togo’s ruling presidential party on Monday urged supporters to take to the streets to coincide with planned opposition demonstrations against the slow pace of political reform. Georges Kwawu Aidam, the first vice-president of the Union for the Republic (UNIR) told AFP there would be marches …

Maiduguri, Nigeria | AFP |  At least 44 people have now died in a cholera outbreak in northeast Nigeria, the United Nations said Monday, calling for nearly $10 million to keep the disease from spreading. “To date, the outbreak has claimed at least 44 lives, out of close to 2,300 …

Presidents of Malawi, Uganda and Zambia call for accelerated action to end child marriage in Africa  New York, US | UN WOMEN | President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda has emphasized the importance of education for girls and skills training to boost women’s economic empowerment and financial independence in the fight against …

Kano, Nigeria | AFP | At least 15 people were killed on Monday when suicide bombers attacked an aid distribution point in northeast Nigeria, in the latest suspected strike by Boko Haram insurgents against civilians. The blasts occurred in the Konduga area, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Borno state …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The electronic voting system due to be used in a re-run of Kenya’s presidential poll will not be ready in time, the French biometrics firm behind it said Monday. OT-Morpho provided Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) with equipment to identify voters biometrically in …

Aba, Nigeria | AFP |  A dusk-to-dawn curfew imposed after clashes between pro-Biafra supporters and Nigerian security services was relaxed on Monday, as the government blasted social media “quacks and internet trollers” for stoking tensions. The Abia state government in the country’s southeast last week ordered people off the streets …

MASAKA: 14 killed in crash on deadly Ugandan highway Kampala, Uganda | AFP |  Fourteen people were killed when a truck ploughed into a bus carrying a group returning from a wedding on Uganda’s deadliest road, police said Monday. “The driver of the truck lost control after a tyre burst …