AFRICA

At least 17 people died on Tuesday after their bus plunged into a river in Kenya, local officials said. According to authorities the driver lost control while trying to avoid a head-on collision with an oncoming vehicle. The accident happened while the bus was travelling from western Homa Bay county …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir Tuesday ordered the release of political detainees, weeks after massive arrests in a crackdown on anti-government protests. Security agents arrested hundreds of opposition leaders, activists, protesters in January in an attempt to curb demonstrations over rising food prices, including bread. “President …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | It was a handshake that drew a line under Kenya’s bruising election, left many people bewildered and swung open the starting gate for the 2022 presidential race. After months of insults during a deadly and divisive election, the two heirs of Kenya’s most powerful political …

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso | AFP | A mayor in northern Burkina Faso has been shot dead by “unidentified armed individuals” in a zone bordering Mali repeatedly targeted by jihadists, security sources told AFP on Monday. Hamidou Koundaba, the mayor of the Koutougou department in Soum province, was “coldly killed” when …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | More than 4,000 Chadian refugees who lived in two camps in Sudan’s war-torn region of Darfur have voluntarily returned to their country since December, the UN refugee agency said Monday. About 4,000 Chadians remain in the state of Central Darfur, most of them having arrived …

Tripoli, Libya | AFP | A visiting British minister on Monday offered his country’s “technical expertise and practical support” to help curb illegal immigration through Libya, a hub for African migrants bound for Europe. “We discussed how we can help and support those who are working in such a difficult …

Luanda, Angola | AFP | The son of Angola’s former president Jose Eduardo dos Santos planned to siphon off $1.5 billion when he ran the oil-rich country’s sovereign wealth fund, the finance ministry said Monday. The figure is three times higher than an initial sum illegally transferred to a London …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s highest court has rejected Oscar Pistorius’s request to appeal against his 13-year jail term, ending the long legal battle over his killing of his girlfriend in 2013. The former Paralympic athlete, 31, had asked the Constitutional Court to review the jail term, which …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari declared Monday he would seek re-election next year, in a move that put an end to months of speculation. “President @Buhari has just announced his intention to seek the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and contest for a …

Goma, DR Congo | AFP | A Catholic priest was found shot dead hours after he said mass in Democratic Republic of Congo’s restive North Kivu province, a member of the church told AFP. “Father Etienne Sengiyumva was killed Sunday by the Mai Mai Nyatura (militia) in Kyahemba where he had …