AFRICA

Entebbe, Uganda | AFP | Targeted killings of specific ethnic groups in South Sudan’s civil war amount to “genocide”, according to Britain’s International Development Minister Priti Patel. “It’s tribal, it’s absolutely tribal, so on that basis it’s genocide,” Patel told reporters in Uganda this week, according to a ministry press officer …

Sisi starts crack down as Egypt faces uphill battle against corruption Cairo, Egypt | AFP | When Egyptian real estate developer Hassan tried building an apartment block without paying bribes, officials stalled the project, going so far as to suggest there were ancient relics beneath the lot. Hassan buckled and …

Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Gunmen have ambushed and killed eight police officers in eastern Tanzania, the presidency said Friday, the latest in a string of killings targeting politicians and security officers in the country. “President John Pombe Magufuli is surprised and very sorry to learn of the news of the …

An IRC hospital in Somaliland Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) warned Wednesday of a health crisis in Somaliland after 28 people died of acute diarrhoea in the past 10 days. More than 411 cases, believed to be caused by cholera, have …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP |  Nigeria’s electoral agency has suspended more than 200 officers for accepting bribes to influence the outcome of the 2015 vote won by the opposition. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said late Tuesday that 205 staff were found guilty of corruption after an investigation by …

Lusaka, Zambia | AFP | Zambian opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema has been charged with treason after allegedly refusing to give way to President Edgar Lungu’s motorcade on a main road, police said. Hichilema, who says he does not recognise Lungu as president, was accused of deliberately endangering his life in …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | A bloody clash between the army and police in Nigeria’s restive northeastern Yobe state on Wednesday left one soldier and three police dead, a security source told AFP. The police confirmed the fracas in the state capital of Damaturu, but did not say if there were …

Banjul, Gambia | AFP | The Gambia’s first female barrister was sworn in Tuesday as National Assembly speaker, days after the African country’s United Democratic Party (UDP) emerged from decades in opposition to win an absolute parliamentary majority. Mariam Jack Denton, the first woman to be called to the Gambian Bar, …

Lusaka, Zambia | AFP | Zambian opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema, who has refused to accept the result of last year’s presidential election, was detained Tuesday on treason charges, his lawyer said. Police were not immediately available to confirm the charges, which came after a dispute over Hichilema’s vehicles allegedly obstructing President …

Why African countries banning imports of fruit and veg is a blunt tool Zambia’s government has just banned the imports of some farm produce as a way of promoting the growth of the agriculture sector. The Conversation Africa’s Samantha Spooner asked Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development, …