AFRICA

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | A former head of Nigeria’s state-run oil company is under investigation after almost $10 million in cash was found at a property he owns. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), an anti-corruption agency, said it had seized $9.8 million (9.2 million euros) from a …

Paris, France | AFP |  The French nuclear group Areva said Tuesday a truck carrying a chemical used in the uranium fuel process had tipped over in Benin, but there was “no risk” of contamination. The accident occurred in the West African country on Sunday near Dassa, about 200 kilometres …

On a South African farm, despair over  attack Onderstepoort, South Africa | AFP | Peeling back the maize plant’s leaves reveals a small brown caterpillar — an armyworm that writhes as it burrows into the heart of the crop, producing a sticky dark paste. Eighty percent of the Prinsloo family’s …

Banjul, Gambia | AFP |  The Gambia’s new government has asked the United Nations to halt the process of withdrawal from the International Criminal Court (ICC) begun by the regime of former leader Yahya Jammeh. The Hague-based court, set up in 2002, is often accused of bias against African nations, …

Mediator Benjamin Mkapa and Burundi’s  foreign minister Nyamwite at previous talks.Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  Burundi’s government affirmed Tuesday it will shun peace talks with opposition figures planned for later this week in Tanzania, dragging out a political crisis that has stretched for over a year. The talks are intended …

Kampala, Uganda | AFP |  The United States will give over $25 million in humanitarian aid to Uganda, to help the nation cope with a huge influx of refugees fleeing conflict in east Africa, the US ambassador in Kampala said Tuesday. Uganda is hosting more than a million refugees, nearly …

President Kagame makes pledge during visit to SEZ President Kagame on Jan.07 toured the Special Economic Zone where he visited four factories manufacturing different products within the ‘Made in Rwanda’ framework. While addressing business people with operations within the Special Economic Zone at the conclusion of the tour, President Kagame …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  A senior South Sudanese general has quit, accusing President Salva Kiir and top members from his majority Dinka tribe of “ethnic cleansing,” according to a resignation letter obtained by AFP Sunday. Lieutenant-General Thomas Cirillo Swaka is the country’s deputy chief of general staff for logistics …

Luanda, Angola | AFP | Angola announced an investigation Saturday into a stadium stampede that killed at least 17 and injured scores, as the nation’s president, the host team and witnesses blamed the deaths on police error. Children were among the victims in what has been described as the country’s …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  New militia groups, some “opportunists”, others “downright criminal”, have emerged in South Sudan since renewed violence erupted there last July, the head of an international ceasefire monitoring team said Friday. Talking to the press in Nairobi, Festus Mogae, a former president of Botswana who leads …