AFRICA

Paris, France | AFP | The illegal slaughter of African elephants to feed Asia’s demand for ivory has decreased by more than half in eight years, but the majestic mammals are still threatened with extinction, researchers warned Tuesday. In 2011, poachers killed some 40,000 tuskers — about ten percent of the …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Thousands of workers went on strike across Sudan on Tuesday, leaving air and bus passengers stranded as protesters piled pressure on the military to hand power to a civilian administration. The leaders of an umbrella protest movement remain at loggerheads with army generals who ousted president …

  Blantyre, Malawi | AFP |  Malawi’s President Peter Mutharika, 78, is a former Washington law professor with two successive election victories to his name and a political career clouded by claims of corruption, even treason. He won his first term in a closely-contested poll in 2014 — two years after …

    Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP |  More than 830,000 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s North Kivu province will be vaccinated against cholera, which has claimed over 240 lives this year, the World Health Organization said Monday. The campaign will be implemented by DR Congo’s health ministry with …

  Entebbe, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Nile Basin Initiative Secretariat has welcomed a new Executive Director, Prof. Seifeldin Hamad Abdalla. He brings to the organisation decades of deep experience and proven record of success as an engineer, a manager and a researcher. He took office on April 8, …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari signed an ambitious budget into law Monday, days ahead of the official start of his second term leading Africa’s largest oil producer. Buhari approved the spending plan worth 8.92 trillion naira — about $29 billion based on the official fixed exchange …

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | A commuter taxi has knocked dead four Kenyan pilgrims and injured ten others critically along Iganga-Tororo high way. The accident occurred around 5:30am on Sunday morning at Waina village in Mayuge district. The deceased Kenyan victims who were on their way to Namugongo Martyrs …

Why our everlasting obsession with the state, its leaders and politics as the problem is misguided THE LAST WORD | ANDREW M MWENDA | There is a near unanimous view that the problems of our nations in Sub Sahara Africa are a result of leaders, specifically our presidents. Others broaden …

Blantyre, Malawi | AFP |  Malawi’s electoral board on Friday said it was suspending updates of results from this week’s elections in order to resolve complaints raised by some of the parties. A count of votes tallied in three-quarters of the country’s polling stations, released Thursday, found incumbent president Peter Mutharika …

Pretoria, South Africa | AFP | Cyril Ramaphosa vowed a “new era” Saturday after he was sworn in as president of South Africa at a colourful ceremony in the capital, as he looks to revitalise his push to revive the economy and fight corruption. Foreign heads of state from more than …