AFRICA

Goma, DR Congo | AFP |  At least 12 people died and 92 were missing after heavy rains caused flooding in two villages in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, an official said Wednesday. “The provisional toll after torrential rain hit the villages of Bihambwe and Matanda in Masisi Territory is …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria was warned on Tuesday that clashes between herders and farmers threatened the country’s national security, after such conflict claimed more lives last year than the Boko Haram insurgency. The International Crisis Group said some 2,500 people were killed in 2016 and tens of thousands …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenya’s Supreme Court on Wednesday blamed the election commission for last month’s annulled presidential vote, rebuking officials for bungling the transmission of results and basing the outcome on dubious documents. The full ruling detailing the court’s shock decision on September 1 to annul President Uhuru Kenyatta’s …

Gaborone, Botswana | AFP | Nine elephants were electrocuted in a freak accident in Botswana after one of them knocked into an electricity pole and the high-voltage power line fell on them, a local official said Tuesday. The herd is believed to have broken out of the northeastern Makgadikgadi Pans Game …

Antananarivo, Madagascar | AFP | In most countries health ministers are seen as bureaucrats more interested in paperwork than medical miracles. Not in Madagascar, where Mamy Lalatiana Andriamanarivo recently picked up a scalpel and separated conjoined siamese twins in a medical first for the Indian Ocean island nation. “Surgery was performed …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwean activist pastor Evan Mawarire pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges of misconduct and inciting a crowd to cause violence. Mawarire — an outspoken opponent of ruling President Robert Mugabe — became popular with his #ThisFlag movement that challenged Mugabe’s government over the economic crisis. …

Lome, Togo | AFP | Togo’s opposition stayed away from parliament on Tuesday, blocking the passage of the government’s bill for political reform and forcing a referendum. The bill was published last week on the eve of protests calling for a revision of the constitution that developed into demands for President …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Kenya’s Supreme Court is giving its full judgement on the annulled Kenya Presidential election. The full judgement points out in detail why the Supreme Court took the unprecedented decision to overturn the August 8 poll. Supreme Court Chief Justice David Maraga in his brief ruling nearly …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  Kenya’s chief justice on Tuesday hit out at political leaders and their supporters over a wave of threats against his court, which annulled last month’s presidential election over widespread irregularities. Scores of supporters of President Uhuru Kenyatta gathered outside the Supreme Court to demand he …

Goma, DR Congo | AFP |  The bodies of 17 civilians apparently fleeing violence in the troubled North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo were found in Lake Edward, a local official said Tuesday. The civilians “drowned trying to flee clashes between the Mai-Mai and soldiers from the …