AFRICA

Once again Rwanda has recorded improvement in its global ease of doing business ranking. It is the sixth year in a row that Rwanda is maintaining a high ranking in the World Bank index which rates countries on how easily a business can be set up and how it is …

Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | At least 25 soldiers died in weekend fighting between rival Puntland and Galmudug regional forces in the divided Somali town of Galkayo, military officials on both sides said Monday. “We have lost 12 men and there are more than 10 wounded,” said Puntland commander Jumale …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP |  Nearly 60 percent of domestic flights were delayed in Nigeria in just three months to the end of September, local media reported on Monday, citing statistics from the country’s aviation regulator. The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) recorded 7,722 delays of the 13,097 scheduled flights …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP |  South Africa’s defiant opposition leader Julius Malema made a fresh push on Monday for the seizure of white-owned land by blacks, despite charges against him over similar calls. Just after appearing in court over land grab claims he made in June, Malema again urged …

Is FDLR splitting? The recent arrest of a top Rwandan rebel commander in the DR Congo has once again sparked speculation that the FDLR could be on the verge of imploding internally. Habyarimana Mucebo Sofuni, a senior member of the Rwandan FDLR rebel group, was captured in Rutshuru, north-eastern DR …

Algiers, Algeria | AFP |  Algeria’s state energy company Sonatrach on Sunday awarded the China Petroleum Engineering and Construction Corporation (CPECC) a 380-million-euro ($420-million) contract to renovate its Algiers refinery. CPECC, which is affiliated to the China National Petroleum Corporation, will rehabilitate the refinery after Sonatrach severed an initial deal …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP |  Sudanese security agents seized all copies of three newspapers Sunday, a journalists’ association said, just days after they covered a fuel price hike in reports seen as critical of the government. Members of the powerful National Intelligence and Security Service, or NISS, took copies of …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria has released a spokesman for former president Goodluck Jonathan held for allegedly diverting money meant to fight Boko Haram Islamists, an anti-graft official said Sunday. Reuben Abati was arrested and held for questioning by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) since October 24 …

Sofia, Bulgaria | AFP |  Five Bulgarian nurses jailed for eight years in Libya over an HIV epidemic at a children’s hospital welcomed on Saturday media reports accusing Kadhafi-era spies of deliberately infecting the infants. The five nurses, who along with a Palestinian doctor, became known as the “Benghazi six” …

Paris, France | AFP | A French soldier deployed in a counter-terrorism force in Mali died overnight from injuries sustained in a mine blast, the defence ministry said Saturday. The jihadist group Ansar Dine, which has ties to Al-Qaeda, claimed the attack on social media, saying it took place some …