(AP) — The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights says the security situation in Central African Republic is deteriorating three weeks after the government was overthrown. Navi Pillay on Tuesday expressed concern about “a wide range of alleged grave violations” including rape, torture, kidnappings and targeted killings. Pillay... Read more
(AP) — An elephant overturned a vehicle carrying two tourists, injuring both, on Monday, said South African officials. The tourists are of “Chinese origin,” according to a statement from Kruger National Park. One of the tourists said he was from Hong Kong, according to a hospital official. An elephant... Read more
Somali PM believes foreigners assisted court attack
Africa April 16, 2013
(AP) — Somalia’s prime minister said Monday that several experienced foreign fighters took part in the most serious Islamic extremist attack on Mogadishu in years, while other officials indicated the explosive devices were more advanced than normal, a possible indication of greater involvement by al-Qaida. Prime Minister Abdi Farah... Read more
Student leader killed in Togo protest
Africa April 16, 2013
(AP) — A union official in the tiny West African nation of Togo says one student is dead and another wounded at a demonstration seeking better working conditions for teachers. Ephrem Tsikplonou, secretary-general of a Togolese trade union called CSTT, said a student was fatally shot by security forces... Read more
U.S religious commission worried over Nigeria violence
Africa April 16, 2013
(AP) — The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom has warned that ongoing violence between Christians and Muslims in central Nigeria exposes the country’s “failure to effectively deal” with the unrest. The independent, bipartisan governmental commission issued the warning Monday from Washington. The commission said its own documentation... Read more
Liberia gets new chief justice
Africa April 16, 2013
(AP) — Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf says Francis Korkpor will be the country’s new chief justice. Korkpor, 61, will replace Johnny Lewis who resigned last year due to ill health. Until his appointment as chief justice, Korpor, a devout Catholic, acted as the interim chief justice. Korkpor has... Read more
Death toll in Somalia court attack now 35
Africa April 16, 2013
(AP) — The death toll rose Monday to at least 35 killed in the most serious Islamic extremist attack in years on Mogadishu, a government official said. Islamic radicals from al-Shabab launched a multi-pronged attack against the country’s Supreme Court complex on Sunday. The interior minister said nine militants... Read more
Sudan, South Sudan to resume border trade, oil exports
Africa April 13, 2013
(AP) — South Sudan’s president says he and Sudan’s president have agreed to a resumption of oil exports and border trade. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir traveled to South Sudan on Friday for the first time since the south peacefully broke away from Sudan in 2011. South Sudan President... Read more
South Africa ruminates on impact of white rule
Africa April 13, 2013
(AP) — Few South Africans have the moral stature of retired archbishop Desmond Tutu, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who campaigned against apartheid and now laments the crime and inequality that plague the nation two decades after it cast off racist white rule. “We can’t pretend we have remained... Read more
(AP) — A suicide bombing by Islamic militants has killed at least three Chad soldiers and injured civilians at a market, officials and a humanitarian worker said Friday. Lalla Maiga, a humanitarian worker in Kidal, said that two suicide bombers were also killed in the attack. She said the... Read more