AFRICA

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Somalia’s Al-Qaeda linked Shabaab insurgents are increasingly threatening civilians to force them to hand over young children for “indoctrination and military training”, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Monday. The rights watchdog said an aggressive campaign to recruit children had begun in mid-2017, with the jihadists …

Paris, France | AFP | Five Sahel countries – Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso — on Monday launched their second anti-Jihadist operation in the troubled region, after talks in Paris with their partner France. After the discussions between the defence ministers of the so-called G5 Sahel and their …

Up to 100% of women  given a self-testing kit took the test Kampala, Uganda | AGENCIES | Until recently, there was virtually no evidence on the acceptability and feasibility of HIV self-testing, but results of new studies now suggest that self-testing has potential in improving the uptake of testing – at …

Malabo, Equatorial Guinea | AFP | An opposition activist died in prison after being tortured in Equatorial Guinea, the country’s main opposition party said Monday, accusing the government of “cruel and inhumane” treatment of its detainees. Santiago Ebee Ela, 41, died at the central police station in capital Malabo on …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | An aide to former Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe has revealed how generals warned him to step aside as protests against him grew, or face being “lynched” like Libya’s Moamer Kadhafi. Massive street protests against 93-year-old Mugabe erupted after the military briefly took power in November …

Madrid, Spain | AFP | Seven African migrants, some of whom “could be minors,” were found dead Monday as they tried to reach Lanzarote in Spain’s Canary Islands, authorities said. Authorities found an inflatable boat off a beach at the popular resort of Costa Teguise with five bodies inside, a …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The World Health Organization Monday said there was a high risk of a cholera epidemic after flooding in Kinshasa, the teeming and ramshackle capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. “In a big city like Kinshasa, which has between 10 and 12 million inhabitants, …

Paris, France | AFP | French investigating magistrates have closed a probe into allegations that French soldiers raped children in the Central African Republic while on a peacekeeping mission, judicial sources said Monday. Members of Operation Sangaris, deployed to keep warring militias apart, had been accused of abusing children at …

Bangui, Central African Republic | AFP | Catholic bishops in the Central African Republic have appealed to armed groups controlling swathes of the chronically unstable country to stop looting and lay down their arms. Mired in poverty but rich in minerals, the former French colony has been battered by a conflict …

Tripoli, Libya | AFP | Fierce fighting forced the closure of the Libyan capital’s only civilian airport on Monday, officials said, after a militia in charge of security there said it had been attacked. The Facebook page of Mitiga International Airport, in eastern Tripoli, said “flights have been suspended because of …