AFRICA

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP |  Sudan deployed troops in the capital Khartoum and other cities on Friday, witnesses said, after eight demonstrators were killed in clashes with riot police during protests over increased bread prices. A government decision to raise the price of a loaf of bread this week from …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Six people were killed when a plane chartered by DR Congo’s election commission crashed near Kinshasa airport, sources said Friday. The Antonov 26 crashed Thursday as it was about to land after delivering election material to Tshikapa in the centre of the country, a …

Antananarivo, Madagascar | AFP | Former president Andry Rajoelina on Friday took an early lead in Madagascar’s election count with a clear advantage over his rival Marc Ravalomanana, according to partial official results. With about one-third of polling stations counted, Rajoelina had 54.85 percent of the vote and Ravalomanana had …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | A journalist was arrested and “violently beaten” in Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday for covering a meeting of opposition presidential hopeful Martin Fayulu, a media rights group said. Rodrigue Ndakazieka, described as a “journalist-technician” with a Kwilu province radio station, in the west …

Paris, France | AFP | Africa’s second largest country, Democratic Republic of Congo, is rich in raw materials and minerals but cursed by deadly violence, insurgencies, graft and poverty. Presidential elections were scheduled for Sunday, but electoral authorities delayed the vote by seven days until December 30 after a warehouse …

Kano, Nigeria | AFP | Eleven young women were arrested in the northern Nigerian city of Kano for allegedly planning a lesbian wedding, the Islamic law-enforcement agency, the Hisbah, told AFP Thursday. The suspects were arrested on Monday by a team of Hisbah personnel while making last minute preparations for …

Antananarivo, Madagascar | AFP | Vote counting in Madagascar’s presidential election was roiled by accusations of fraud on Thursday as the two candidates both claimed victory in a stand-off that has raised fears of instability on the Indian Ocean island. Andry Rajoelina and Marc Ravalomanana, both former presidents and long-time …

Niamey, Niger | AFP | Around 100 schools have closed or suspended classes in Niger due to the threat from Islamist militants, the UN said on Thursday, in the latest warning over jihadist presence. Western African leaders last month held regional talks on the escalating attacks by Boko Haram jihadists …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP |  Eight demonstrators were killed in eastern Sudan on Thursday, officials said, during clashes with riot police on the second day of protests over the rising price of bread. A government decision to raise the price of bread this week from one Sudanese pound to three …

  Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | DR Congo’s troubled journey to elect a successor to President Joseph Kabila hit a fresh snag Thursday, three days before voting, as electoral supervisors ordered a week-long postponement after a fire destroyed polling equipment. The delay marks the latest twist in a two-year-old …