Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Turkey inaugurated on Saturday the largest foreign-run military training centre in Somalia, where local troops are due to take over the protection of a nation threatened by Shabaab Islamist attacks. Somalia’s fragile government and institutions, including its national army, are backed by the African Union’s …
Read More »Disgraced US football star O.J. Simpson to be released from prison
Los Angeles, United States | AFP | Disgraced American football star O.J. Simpson, whose racially charged 1995 murder trial riveted the nation, is expected to be released from prison as early as Monday after nine years behind bars for armed robbery. Simpson, 70, plans to relocate to Florida following his …
Read More »Military plane crashes in DR Congo
At least 11 dead as DR Congo army plane crashes Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | A transport plane chartered by the Congolese army crashed near Kinshasa on Saturday, killing at least 11 people, military and airport sources told AFP. The Antonov transporter had just taken off with “several dozen …
Read More »Uganda’s annual inflation marginally went up to 5.3% in September
Kampala, Uganda | JULIUS BUSINGE | Uganda’s annual headline inflation for the year ending September 2017 increased from 5.2% to 5.3% in the year ended August 2017, according to official numbers released by Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS) on Sept.29. Officials said the increase was attributed to a rise in …
Read More »Botswana court grants transgender identity change
Gaborone, Botswana | AFP | A court in Botswana on Friday ruled that a transgender man who has been identified as a woman since birth should be allowed to change gender on his identity document, his lawyers said. The court in the southern town of Lobatse ordered the country’s registrar …
Read More »At least 20 soldiers killed in Somalia jihadist attack
Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Shabaab jihadists attacked an army base in the southern Somali town of Barire on Friday, killing at least 20 soldiers and looting equipment, local sources said. The assault on the Somali National Army military camp in Barire, around 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of the …
Read More »Trump’s scandal-hit health secretary resigns
Washington, United States | AFP | President Donald Trump’s embattled health secretary was forced out of the US administration Friday amid a scandal over his use of costly private jets for government travel. Tom Price was the latest top official to join in a stream of steady and embarrassing exits …
Read More »Ivory Coast produces record cocoa crop
Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | The cocoa crop of Ivory Coast, the world’s biggest producer, increased 28.5 percent to a record 2.15 million tonnes in the 2016-17 season, the national Coffee and Cocoa Council said Friday. Exports increased by 23.3 percent to 1.9 million tonnes, helping to raise the …
Read More »Tata wins bid to make electric cars for Indian government
New Delhi, India | AFP | India’s Tata Motors has won a bid to manufacture thousands of electric cars for the government as part of a push to promote battery-powered vehicles as the nation grapples with soaring pollution levels. State-owned energy efficiency services limited (ESSL) will procure 10,000 cars from …
Read More »Burundi radio station suspended for criticising killings
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The director of a Burundi radio station said Friday his outlet is being temporarily taken off air after criticising the government over the killings of dozens of refugees in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). CCIB FM+, which is run by Burundi’s chamber of commerce, …
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