AFRICA

Kano, NIGERIA | AFP | Three hundred Boko Haram suspects were officially remanded in custody in Nigeria on Tuesday, as hearings got under way in the first mass trials linked to the Islamist insurgency. The media has been banned on security grounds from attending proceedings at four civilian courts set up …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | “Time for an interview? I have a lot of time at the moment,” said Owino Onyango, sweating as he stepped out of his blacksmith’s shop in Nairobi to talk business, and politics. “Business goes with politics: if politics go down, business also goes down”, said the …

Monrovia, Liberia | AFP | Liberians turned out in force on Tuesday to choose a successor to President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, in a contest set to complete the country’s first democratic transition of power in more than 70 years. A calm day of ballot casting with long lines across the nation …

Kismayo, Somalia | AMISOM | African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and the United Nations have handed over a new police headquarters and a vehicle to Jubbaland state to help boost security in the region. Speaking at the ceremony, Jubbaland Police Commissioner Ahmednasir Guled Hassan commended the support provided by AMISOM …

Lome, Togo | AFP | The Togo government on Tuesday announced a ban on all midweek marches, hours after the opposition announced plans for a rally next week in a campaign aimed at forcing out President Faure Gnassingbe. From Monday to Friday “all marches are banned. People can meet in a …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  Supporters of Kenya’s opposition leader Raila Odinga took to the streets Wednesday as poll officials mull their next move after his withdrawal from a presidential election plunged the country into uncharted waters. Opinions are split on what the veteran opposition leader’s decision implies for what …

Monrovia, Liberia | AFP |  Counting was under way in Liberia on Wednesday following a peaceful poll that will determine President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s successor after 12 years and complete a historic democratic transfer of power. The first official results in the presidential and legislative elections are expected on Wednesday …

Blantyre, Malawi | AFP | Malawi President Peter Mutharika on Tuesday vowed a thorough investigation after seven people were murdered by vigilantes in a vampire scare that has driven UN staffers out of the affected region. Since mid-September, vigilantes have slaughtered seven people suspected of trying to obtain and drink human …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s cabinet reshuffle quashed opposition within his government, state media said Tuesday, as the 93-year-old leader prepares to stand again in elections next year. Mugabe stripped Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa of his role as justice minister, reassigned the finance minister and created a …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Health officials in Nigeria have called for calm after dozens of suspected cases of monkeypox were reported in seven states across the south of the country. Thirty-one suspected cases of the viral disease have been identified since the first was reported in Bayelsa State on September …