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 …

Micho assistants Basena and Kajoba to handle Cranes for Rwanda game Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) president Eng. Moses Magogo has outlined plans for the replacement of  national coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevich, who terminated his contract over a pay dispute last week. “There is a system challenge …

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 …

London, United Kingdom | AFP |  Alexandre Lacazette gave Arsenal an injury scare as the club’s record signing limped off after scoring his first home goal in Sunday’s 2-1 Emirates Cup defeat against Sevilla. Lacazette is under pressure to make an immediate impact after Arsene Wenger splashed out £52 million …

Budapest, Hungary | AFP |  Sebastian Vettel admitted he was glad that it is so difficult to overtake around the tight Hungaroring circuit after nursing his Ferrari car, with steering problems, to victory in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix. The four-time world champion, whose victory lifted him 14 points clear of …

  The Hague, Netherlands | AFP |  The British-Dutch oil giant Shell said it was temporarily shutting down Europe’s biggest refinery after a pre-dawn fire broke out at a power station on the vast site on Sunday. Flames billowed into the sky over the port of Rotterdam after the blaze …

Moscow, Russia | AFP |  President Vladimir Putin on Sunday said the United States would have to cut 755 diplomatic staff in Russia and warned of a prolonged gridlock in its ties after the US Congress backed new sanctions against the Kremlin. Putin added bluntly that Russia was able to …

London, United Kingdom | AFP |  Manchester United are on the verge of signing Serbia midfielder Nemanja Matic from Chelsea in a £40 million ($55 million) deal, according to reports on Sunday. United manager Jose Mourinho has been keen to take Matic from his former club for over a year …