AFRICA

Bukavu, DR Congo | AFP | A dozen militiamen in eastern DR Congo were jailed for life Wednesday for raping about 40 children, including a baby, in what was judged a crime against humanity. The defendants were said to belong to a militia group called “Djeshi ya Yesu” — meaning “Army …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza has launched a campaign to promote a referendum to change the constitution that could see him rule until 2034. “It’s the day you’ve been waiting for,” Nkurunziza told a crowd of thousands of farmers in the central Gitega district on Tuesday, threatening …

Washington, United States | AFP | US forces in Somalia conducted an air strike Tuesday against a bomb-laden vehicle outside Mogadishu that was deemed an “imminent threat” to the capital, officials said. The strike occurred about 65 kilometers (40 miles) southwest of Mogadishu and comes after as many as 512 people …

Lome, Togo | AFP | Togo’s main opposition coalition, which has led protests against President Faure Gnassingbe for more than three months, on Tuesday boycotted government consultations for talks on ending the political impasse. The international community has called for talks between the two sides to end the stalemate over constitutional …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | As soon as Ethiopian opposition activist Henok Gabisa read the email, he knew something was not right. With the subject line “Democracy in Ethiopia: Can it be saved?”, the message seemed tailor-made for him. Yet the US-based academic, who teaches law at Washington and Lee …

Monrovia, Liberia | AFP | The runoff in Liberia’s presidential elections will be held on December 26, the country’s electoral overseer announced on Tuesday, clearing a last hurdle in a protracted saga. It means the final round of voting between the two leading candidates — ex-footballer George Weah and Vice …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | The United Nations on Tuesday warned that more than 400,000 children in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are severely malnourished and could die within months without emergency intervention. The crisis — the latest to hit the poverty-stricken, strife-torn central African country — is unfolding …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Former Paralympic champion and convicted murderer Oscar Pistorius has been injured in a prison brawl over the use of a public phone, a South African official said on Tuesday. The double amputee — who is serving a 13-year jail term for the murder of …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Burundi’s government has launched a fundraising drive for elections in 2020, presented as “voluntary” but condemned by rights groups as “organised robbery”. Western electoral aid was cut in 2015, when Burundi was plunged into crisis as President Pierre Nkurunziza sought — and went on to …

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | AFP | The bodies of 14 Tanzanian peacekeepers killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo by suspected Ugandan rebels were repatriated Monday, where the defence minister welcomed them as “heroes”. The arrival of the plane carrying 14 white coffins covered with the UN’s blue flag was …