AFRICA

Durban, South Africa | AFP | In the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, local politics is a deadly game, with at least 40 people killed in politically motivated shootings since last year. A battle for control is raging ahead of a conference of the African National Congress to choose a new …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | A controversial set of amendments to Kenya’s electoral act became law on Thursday, just days after a divisive presidential poll boycotted by the opposition. The amendments, condemned by the opposition as well as Kenya’s foreign allies, were automatically gazetted after President-elect Uhuru Kenyatta failed to …

Blantyre, Malawi | AFP | At least 18 Malawian soldiers were killed on Thursday when the truck they were travelling in left the road at a corner and rolled three times, police said. The military truck was carrying more than 60 passengers returning from training in the northern district of Mzimba …

Liwonde, Malawi | AFP | Under a scorching sun, a team of British soldiers and Malawian rangers sheltered under a tree ready to pounce on their prey: poachers. The combined force, armed with rifles and handcuffs, did not encounter any poachers as it patrolled the 530 square kilometre (240 square mile) …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP |  South Sudanese President Salva Kiir on Thursday accused Sudan of being a “source of weapons” fuelling the brutal civil war in his country as he met leader Omar al-Bashir in Khartoum. “If there is someone who can accuse the other, it is me who can …

Monrovia, Liberia | AFP | The presidents of Guinea and Togo held mediation talks Wednesday with all sides involved in Liberia’s disputed election, following a Supreme Court announcement it would summon the country’s electoral commission to explain alleged fraud and irregularities. Liberia’s top court has reviewed a legal complaint backed by …

Expanded Trump ‘Mexico City’ policy causing cuts in HIV, Reproductive Care in East Africa Washington, US | THE INDEPENDENT |  Early effects of United States restrictions to global health aid will include cuts to essential health services in Kenya and Uganda, Human Rights Watch (HRW) has warned. Human Rights Watch has …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | A Nigerian judge on Wednesday accused the country’s former oil minister of trying to “avoid justice” in Britain, as he dismissed an application for her to face corruption charges back home. Judge Rilwan Aikawa told the Federal High Court in Lagos that an attempt by Diezani …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | South Sudanese President Salva Kiir began Wednesday a two-day visit to Sudan aimed at resolving border disputes and addressing mutual accusations of supporting rebels in each other’s territory. It is Kiir’s third visit to Khartoum since the Christian majority south split from the Muslim north in …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Wednesday called for the return of the death penalty, after more than 50 people applied for the vacant position of hangman. Capital punishment is on the statute book in Zimbabwe, but no one has been executed since 2005 when the country’s …