AFRICA

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 …

Juba, South Sudan | AFP |  An outbreak of fighting between government and rebel forces in South Sudan’s oil-producing north left at least 25 people dead, a state official said Tuesday. The clash between rebels loyal to exiled former deputy president Riek Machar and government forces occurred early Monday in …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP |  An independent Tanzanian newspaper has been suspended for two years, a government spokesman said Tuesday, accusing the publication of sedition and endangering national security. The critical Mwanahalisi newspaper was shut after publishing a letter on Monday from a reader containing “insults” against President John Magufuli …

Tunis, Tunisia | AFP | Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar visited neighbouring Tunisia on Monday for talks with President Beji Caid Essebsi, who offered to act as a mediator between rival Libyan factions. Libya, which plunged into chaos after the ouster and killing of dictator Moamer Kadhafi in 2011, has two …