AFRICA

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP |  Ethiopia has blocked social media sites for the next few days, after questions from end-of-year exams were posted online last month, sparking a national scandal and leading to their annulment. A government spokesman said the ban was aimed at stopping students taking university entrance …

Juba, South Sudan | AFP |  South Sudan has been plunged back into violence as it marks five years of independence, with a peace deal stalled and huge swathes of the country facing food shortages. Tens of thousands have died in the war that started in December 2013 in the …

Juba, South Sudan | AFP | Gunfire was once again heard in South Sudan’s capital on Sunday as former rebels and government soldiers exchanged fire on the outskirts of the city. “Gunshots, heavily armed exchange UN House area once again; going on now since approx. 0825 (0525 GMT),” the UN …

A view from the Economic Policy Research Centre Makerere On June 23, the British voted in a referendum to exit the European Union. The referendum was predictably surrounded by discussions of what a British exit- Brexit- would mean for the people and its social, political and economic impact. Of particular …

Juba, South Sudan | AFP Five soldiers have been killed in a shootout in South Sudan’s capital Juba, army and former rebel officials said Friday, in the latest blow to a shaky peace deal. “There were military clashes yesterday (Thursday) around 8 pm. Five soldiers have been killed in the …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Convicted murderer Oscar Pistorius is serving his six-year sentence for killing his girlfriend in a single hospital prison cell, an official said Thursday. The disgraced paralympian is in the same cell in Pretoria’s Kgosi Mampuru prison he was previously incarcerated for one year. Manelisi …

Kigali, Rwanda | AFP | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Rwanda on Wednesday for a symbolic stop on his “historic” African tour, boosting ties between two countries with a history marked by genocide. Welcomed on arrival by Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Netanyahu visited the Kigali Memorial Centre where …

Bamako, Mali | AFP | Two Dutch UN peacekeepers were accidentally killed and one seriously wounded Wednesday in an explosion in northwest Mali during a training exercise, the Dutch defence ministry said. “During the accident, two of our men lost their lives,” said The Netherlands’ Vice Chief of Defence, Vice …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Hundreds of people marched through Kenya’s capital on Monday condemning “extrajudicial executions” following the murder of three men, including a lawyer who criticised police abuse. Dressed in T-shirts smeared in red paint to symbolise blood, the demonstration organised by the Kenya National Commission on Human …

  The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Uganda, his first trip as premier to sub-Saharan Africa. He has just flown in Monday, exactly 40 years after Israel commandos rescued hostages in the famous Operation Thunderbolt at Entebbe. He was received by President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, and given a …