AFRICA

Dakar, Senegal | AFP |  The ruling coalition of Senegal’s President Macky Sall won a widely expected landslide in a legislative election, his prime minister said Monday, bolstering Sall’s prospects for re-election in 2019. The Benno Bokk Yakaar (BBY) coalition swept all but three of the country’s 45 electoral departments, …

Malawi issues warrant of arrest for former president Banda Blantyre, Malawi | AFP |  Malawi police on Monday issued an arrest warrant for former president Joyce Banda in connection with the country’s “Cashgate” corruption scandal, which involved large-scale looting of government coffers. “Malawi fiscal and fraud police have unearthed credible …

Monrovia, Liberia | AFP |  Twenty candidates will contest presidential elections in Liberia in October, among them a former warlord, a footballer and a fashion model, as Ellen Johnson Sirleaf steps down after two terms, the electoral commission said Monday. There is no obvious frontrunner to replace the Nobel Prize-winning …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | An official charged with overseeing Kenya’s electronic voting system was found dead just over a week before the country goes to the polls, the commission’s chairman said Monday. The body of Chris Msando, a top information technology manager at the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), …

Mogadishu, Somalia |  THE INDEPENDENT & AFP |  Uganda has confirmed that 12 of her solidiers, part of the African Union (AU) troops in Somalia, were killed in an ambush by Shabaab militants on Sunday. “From the battlefield, it is now confirmed that UPDF lost 12 gallant soldiers with 7 …

Islamabad, Pakistan | AFP | Pakistan’s parliament will meet on Tuesday to elect a new prime minister after the Supreme Court disqualified Nawaz Sharif following an investigation into corruption allegations against his family. The ruling party named Sharif’s younger brother Shahbaz as his successor over the weekend, but he must first …

Lusaka, Zambia | AFP | Zambian authorities on Sunday said they had arrested three Chinese nationals and two locals found carrying pieces of rhino horn at the border with Mozambique. Parks and wildlife ministry spokesman Sakabilo Kalembwe said the five were arrested at the Chanida border post. They were held …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s military has been ordered to strengthen its response to Boko Haram after 69 people were killed in an ambush earlier this week, the government said on Sunday. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo held emergency talks with top brass to discuss Tuesday’s attack, which targeted an oil exploration …

Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP |  Shabaab militants in Somalia on Sunday claimed they had killed 39 African Union troops in an ambush in the country’s south. The claim by the Al-Qaeda linked insurgents, made by the group’s spokesman on an affiliated radio station, could not be immediately verified. Local residents …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe’s 93-year-old President Robert Mugabe, declaring “I am not dying,” sought Saturday to brush aside growing concerns about his health after his wife urged him to name a successor. Mugabe’s medical trips to Singapore have become frequent in recent years, fuelling questions about his health. His …