Africa

Dozens feared dead in Niger boat tragedy

Forty-three people, most of them from Benin, are missing after an overloaded boat sank in the Niger River, a local official said yesterday.
23 miners feared dead in flood

At least 23 illegal gold miners were feared dead in Zimbabwe yesterday after water flooded two disused shafts in a mining town 145
Several dead in Nigeria rally stampede

Several people are killed when a stampede erupted at a campaign rally of Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari days ahead of general elections, his office says.
Outcry over Uganda plan to draw tourists with 'curvy women'

Female Ugandan activists yesterday slammed a government campaign to use "curvy women" as a tourism "product", which has sparked a furore in the east African nation.
Nigerian vice president safe after helicopter crash lands

Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was safe after his helicopter crash landed in the north central state of Kogi, his spokesman says.
31 killed after migrant boats sink off Djibouti

The death toll from the sinking of two migrant boats off the coast of Djibouti has risen to 31, the UN migration agency said yesterday, with scores still feared missing.
US air raid kills 52 Somali Islamists

United States military forces carried out an airstrike Saturday against Islamist group al-Shabaab, killing 52 militants, according to a
Eight killed in Mali

Gunmen yesterday killed at least eight Chadian UN peacekeepers in an attack on one of their bases in northern Mali, multiple sources reported.
DRC POLLS : SC confirms Tshisekedi as winner

Regional powers hailed Felix Tshisekedi as DR Congo's incoming president yesterday, despite claims by his opponents of an election
Hunt on for attack planners

Kenyan security forces yesterday resumed their search of the hotel complex attacked by Islamists with sniffer dogs and bomb experts, as information emerged about one of the attackers who killed 21 people.
19 missing in Kenya attack now accounted for: Red Cross

Nineteen people still missing two days after a Somali militant attack on a Nairobi hotel and office complex that killed 21 people are now accounted for, the Kenyan Red Cross said today.
Siege ends after 20 hours

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday said that gunmen who stormed a luxury hotel complex, killing 14 people, had been "eliminated" after an almost 20-hour operation in which hundreds of civilians were rescued.
Hotel complex, offices hit by blast, gunfire

A huge blast followed by a gun battle rocked an upmarket hotel and office complex in Nairobi yesterday, causing casualties, in an attack claimed by the Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab Islamist group.
US conducts series of strikes in Somalia

US forces have conducted a series of air strikes in Somalia in recent days, including one announced Wednesday that officials said killed
DRC opposition chief wins vote

Opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi was yesterday declared the victor of DR Congo's controversial presidential election in a surprise result swiftly denounced by his rival as a "coup".
Tear gas fired to break up Sudan protests

Sudanese police fired tear gas on Friday to break up protests in the capital Khartoum and its twin city of Omdurman, witnesses said.
World pressure mounts on DR Congo ahead of election result

DR Congo was on edge yesterday, just 24 hours ahead of a deadline for announcing preliminary results from last week's crucial
Brazil leader fires hundreds of 'left wing' civil servants

Brazil's new president has authorised the dismissal of civil servants who do not share his far-right ideology, it has been reported.
New Brazil leader targets crime, leftwing 'ideology'

Brazil's new far-right President Jair Bolsonaro declared a crusade against crime, corruption and leftwing ideology as he took office
Six US air strikes kill 62 militants

The US military said yesterday it had killed 62 militants in six air strikes on Saturday and Sunday in the vicinity of Gandarsh in Somalia's south-central Banaadir province.
Congo fire destroys voting machines

A fire overnight at a warehouse in Congo's capital destroyed thousands of voting machines and ballot boxes that were due to be used in
Nigeria parties sign pact for peaceful polls

The main challenger to President Muhammadu Buhari in next year's presidential poll has signed a deal committing to peaceful elections a day after missing the initial ceremony in the capital.
Twelve killed in foiled Brazil bank assaults

Twelve people -- including five hostages -- were killed in northeast Brazil on Friday after police foiled a gang of armed robbers staging
'It's the real me'

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari on Sunday quashed a rumour stemming from his ill health that he had died and been replaced by a
Nigeria's Buhari denies dying and being replaced by lookalike

Nigeria's President Buhari denies claims that he had died and been replaced by a Sudanese impostor, breaking his silence on a rumour that has circulated on social media for months.
Boko Haram kills 3 soldiers in Nigeria

Boko Haram jihadists have killed three soldiers in an attack on a military base in northeast Nigeria's Borno state near Lake Chad, military
30 killed, 60 more feared drowned

Thirty people drowned and more than 60 were feared dead after a pleasure boat sank in Lake Victoria, Ugandan police said yesterday, in the latest such incident on Africa's largest body of water.
Boko Haram kidnaps 50 loggers in Nigeria

Boko Haram jihadists abducted around 50 loggers in northeastern Nigerian close to the border with Cameroon, sources said Thursday. The hostages are mostly from a camp for people displaced by jihadist violence .
Gunmen kidnap Italian volunteer, shoot children near Kenya's coast

Gunmen kidnap an Italian volunteer and shoot and wound four people in Kenya in an attack that has sparked fears of an upsurge in activity by militant Islamists.
Militants kill 16; dozens missing

Boko Haram jihadists have killed at least 16 farmers and left dozens missing in the latest attacks in restive northeast Nigeria's Borno