KINSHASA – The UN Security Council has backed a resolution calling for sanctions against leaders of rebels in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The resolution, adopted unanimously, came hours after the M23 rebels seized the strategic eastern city of Goma. The insurgents met little resistance from the army or UN peacekeepers. In its resolution, the…
FREETOWN – Polls have opened in Sierra Leone in its third general election since the 1991-2002 civil war, which killed more than 50,000 people. More than 2.5 million of the country’s six million citizens are expected to cast their vote for a new president, parliament and local councils. Incumbent President Ernest Bai Koroma faces eight…
BANGUI – The president of Central African Republic is reported to have ordered the detention of his own son for refusing to pay a large hotel bill. Police detained Francois Bozize’s son for several days after he ran up a bill of up to 12,000 euros ($15,000) at a hotel in the capital, reports said….
BLANTYRE – Malawi suspended laws against same-sex relationships on Monday and ordered police not to arrest gays pending a decision on whether to repeal the legislation, a source of friction with the impoverished southern African nation’s donors. Homosexuality is banned in Malawi — as it is in 36 other African states — and carries a…
HARARE – The first banknotes featuring the face of Nelson Mandela have gone into circulation in South Africa. They are the first South African notes to bear the image of a black person – they replace notes with wild animals and rural and industrial scenes. President Jacob Zuma says the banknotes were a “humble gesture”…
LAGOS – Dozens of young men have been shot dead in Nigeria by the military in Maiduguri, residents in the north-eastern city have told the BBC. An imam told the BBC about 11 youths from his street alone were killed, including four of his own sons. The alleged extrajudicial executions happened as Amnesty International accused…
HARARE – South Africans should stop calling the ANC corrupt because that was simply not true, President Jacob Zuma said on Friday. Zuma was addressing a rally organised by the SA Unemployed Workers Union (Sauwu) in East London, the Weekend Post reported. “People are saying this but it is untrue,” he told a packed house…
JOHANNESBURG – Police officers have been implicated in the Johannesburg prison truck explosion in which three people died and 15 were injured, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate said yesterday. “Investigations are still under way, but we have established that police officers were involved and have been implicated in the explosion,” spokesperson Moses Dlamini said. “I…
ZAMFARA – Gunmen have killed 20 people, including a traditional leader, in an attack on a village in northern Nigeria’s Zamfara state, a local official has said. The attackers stormed Kaboro village and began shooting indiscriminately. Their motive was robbery and they fled after raiding houses for cash and other valuables, the official added. At…
JOHANNESBURG – South African police fired rubber bullets and teargas on yesterday at striking Amplats miners who were protesting against a union-brokered deal to end a six-week wildcat walkout at the top platinum producer. As they moved into a shanty town near the mines, police also deployed water cannons and stun grenades against groups of…
