AFRICA

Antananarivo, Madagascar | AFP | Marc Ravalomanana, the former Madagascar president who has sought another term, urged supporters Sunday to protest as he appeared headed for defeat in a run-off poll. “I call on all Madagascans who feel they have suffered injustice and a violation of their right to vote …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The Burundi army on Sunday said it opposed a request by the African Union that it withdraw 1,000 soldiers serving in an African peacekeeping force in Somalia by February 28. Burundi army spokesman Colonel Floribert Biyereke said in a statement that the military would ask …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP | Egyptian security forces have killed 14 Islamist militants in an exchange of fire in the country’s turbulent northern Sinai region, the interior ministry said Sunday. The militants were under surveillance ahead of security forces raiding their hideout in the town of El-Arish, the ministry said …

Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | The death toll from a double car-bomb attack near the presidential palace in Somalia rose to 20 on Sunday, police said. Police on Saturday had said seven people were killed following the two blasts in Mogadishu, which were claimed by the jihadist Shabaab group. “The …

Beni, DR Congo | AFP | At least five people, including four civilians, were killed in an attack by suspected Ugandan rebels in DR Congo, an AFP correspondent and witnesses said on Sunday. The attack by Uganda-based Allied Democratic Forces targeted the locality of Masiani in the Beni region of …

Chinamhora, Zimbabwe | AFP | At Solomon Chakauya’s grocery store in Zimbabwe’s Chinamhora district outside Harare, there’s no sign of the seasonal Christmas rush that he needs to keep his business afloat. Even in the country’s toughest times, sales rocketed in the days before Christmas, but this year few people …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | More than 27,500 Eritreans have filed for refugee status in Ethiopia since the two countries reopened their joint border in September, according to EU documents seen by AFP on Friday. More than 24,000 people from northern Eritrea have applied for refugee status at Endabaguna, …

Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Seven people were killed Saturday in a double car bomb attack claimed by the jihadist Shabaab group near the presidential palace in the Somali capital Mogadishu, police said. “We have confirmed seven people died in the two blasts and more than ten others wounded,” local …

Madrid, Spain | AFP | A migrant group said Friday it had rescued nearly 300 migrants off the coast of Libya over the previous 24 hours. “More than 300 people safe on board the #OpenArms,” the Proactiva Open Arms organisation tweeted. The organisation added that it had rescued people on …

Kano, Nigeria | AFP | A top Boko Haram leader accused of organising deadly twin blasts in the Nigerian capital Abuja that killed 18 people has been arrested, police said Friday. A police statement said Umar Abdulmalik and seven other jihadists were arrested, without giving details. Forty-one people were also …