Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Three Tanzanian NGOs on Tuesday filed a complaint at the East Africa Court of Justice over a 2016 law that they argue violates press freedom. The Media Council of Tanzania (MCT), Legal and Human Rights Centre, and Tanzania Human Rights Defenders Coalition said in their …
Read More »First listeriosis case in Namibia after S.Africa outbreak
Windhoek, Namibia | AFP | Namibia on Tuesday reported its first case of listeriosis since an outbreak in neighbouring South Africa erupted at the beginning of last year, killing 183 people so far. A 41-year-old Namibian man was diagnosed with the disease on Monday and is being treated in a …
Read More »Dozens killed in troubled eastern DR Congo province
Bunia, DR Congo | AFP | Dozens of people were killed overnight in fresh clashes in DR Congo’s volatile northeastern Ituri province, sharpening an ethnic conflict that has already forced tens of thousands to flee, officials said Tuesday. At least 30 people were killed in the latest unrest, which came …
Read More »Nigeria struggles to contain dramatic spread of deadly Lassa fever
Irrua, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria is battling on two fronts against an unprecedented outbreak of Lassa fever, a cousin of Ebola, that has already killed 110 people this year. Even as doctors are grappling to contain the threat, health watchdogs are struggling to understand why the deadly virus has …
Read More »Bus crash kills 38 in Ethiopia: state media
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Thirty-eight people have died after the bus they were travelling in plunged off an embankment in northern Ethiopia, state media said on Tuesday. “A total of 38 people, (28 male, and 10 female) were killed in the accident,” state-affiliated Fana Broadcast Corporate said of …
Read More »Exiled DR Congo opposition leader launches presidency bid
Muldersdrift, South Africa | AFP | Exiled Congolese opposition leader Moise Katumbi launched a campaign Monday to be elected president in polls scheduled for December, unveiling his new “Together for Change” party in South Africa. “We will fight the battle to take power — and we will win,” said Katumbi …
Read More »Madagascar summons US envoys over ex-leader’s dairy cows
Antananarivo, Madagascar | AFP | The Madagascar government on Monday summoned the US ambassador after the embassy commented on a court decision that left dairy cows belonging to ex-president Marc Ravalomanana unattended and without food. A court had ordered the closure of AAA, an agribusiness owned by Ravalomanana, over violation of …
Read More »Fresh protests in Guinea after disputed elections
Conakry, Guinea | AFP | Thousands of people demonstrated in central Conakry on Monday while in several other districts of the Guinean capital youths erected roadblocks and set fire to tyres, in the latest wave of unrest after disputed local elections. The country’s main opposition, the Union of Democratic Forces …
Read More »Killing of civilians by Ethiopia troops no accident, say residents
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | Residents of a town in Ethiopia’s restive Oromia region on Monday disputed the government’s characterisation of a deadly shooting that left nine civilians dead as an accident. Ethiopian state media said Sunday that soldiers shot nine civilians near the town of Moyale on the …
Read More »Burundi leader dubbed ‘eternal supreme guide’ by party
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Burundi’s ruling party has bestowed the title of “eternal supreme guide” on President Pierre Nkurunziza, a party official confirmed Sunday, as critics claimed he wants to lock in power for life. “He is our elder, our father, our adviser,” CNDD-FDD secretary general Evariste Ndayishimiye said in …
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