AFRICA

Nigeria prisoner swap secures release of 82 Chibok girls Abuja, Nigeria | AFP |  Nigeria on Saturday said it had negotiated the release of 82 of the more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram Islamists more than three years ago, securing their freedom in a prisoner swap deal. The …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  At least 29 final year primary school pupils were killed in a bus crash in northern Tanzania on Saturday, along with two teachers and the driver, the school’s director said. “We lost 29 students and two of our staff, and the driver died too,” said …

Durban, South Africa | AFP |  African countries are becoming increasingly repressive and causing more people to leave their homes, British charity Oxfam said this week, as Germany warned of the destabilising effect migration is having on the continent. Political freedom and the problem of Africa’s brain-drain were among the …

Nigeria’s Buhari seen in public for first time in weeks PHOTOS: President @MBuhari with Chief of Staff Abba Kyari and NSA Babagana Monguno, at Juma’at prayer at the State House Mosque, today. pic.twitter.com/pbmrmvBxXx — Presidency Nigeria (@NGRPresident) May 5, 2017 Abuja, Nigeria |  Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday made …

Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | An American soldier was shot dead and two others wounded in a night-time raid with Somali forces against Shabaab militants in Somalia, the US military said Friday. “On May 4, one US service member was killed during an operation against Al-Shabaab near Barii, Somalia, approximately …

Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP |  Somalia’s president cut short a trip to Ethiopia on Thursday, the day after a cabinet minister was accidentally shot and killed in Mogadishu by another official’s guards. “The president of the republic, who is now outside the country, decided to cut his trip short to …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  A South African High Court Thursday ordered President Jacob Zuma to reveal the documents he used to justify the controversial sacking of a widely respected finance minister, sparking economic turmoil. The main opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) went to court to force Zuma to explain …

Multi-pronged approach key for effectively defeating fall armyworm in Africa NAIROBI, Kenya  – Tackling the menace of the tenacious fall armyworm pest and avoiding economic hardship for smallholders across Africa requires multi-institutional collaboration, scientists attending a continental stakeholders consultation meeting on the fall armyworm, have said. In their meeting in …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | A lack of foreign currency means petrol pumps are running dry across Burundi, the government has admitted, as the country struggles with a serious two-year-old political crisis. Long queues have been quickly forming in the capital Bujumbura where petrol is only available at some of …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP |  Nigerian officials on Wednesday played down fears about the health of President Muhammadu Buhari, despite his third consecutive absence from cabinet and assurances from his wife there was no cause for concern. Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo chaired the meeting instead of the 74-year-old Buhari, who has …