In the news

South Africa’s Minister of Public Enterprises, Pravin Gordhan, has called for a scrap metal export ban amid vandalism of public infrastructure. According to the Minister, this measure would ensure that there would be no external market for the stolen metal to be sold as scrap metal. “There is absolutely no …

Gambian President Adama Barrow has sacked the country’s vice president and top ministers in a major cabinet reshuffle, government spokesman Ebrima Sankareh announced on state television on Wednesday. Eleven ministers were retained in the new 23-member cabinet that includes three women, reports said. Former education minister Alieu Badara Joof, replaced …

Military leaders in Guinea say they will prosecute former President Alpha Condé for murder and other crimes committed during his time in office. A document from Guinea’s public prosecutor says Mr Condé is among 27 former senior officials who are facing a long list of alleged crimes. He faces several …

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari says he is in shock after learning of the death of a military officer and his partner, shot dead and then beheaded in the south-east of the country. Mr Buhari has ordered that the “perpetrators of the barbaric crime be brought to justice.” Authorities accused a …

At least 10 Burundian soldiers were killed and 25 others injured after Islamist al-Shabab militants attacked their base in Somalia’s Middle Shabelle region, the army said. An army spokesperson said five other soldiers were missing. “Twenty terrorists of al-Shabab group were also killed during the attack,” the army statement said. …

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in the USA paid tribute to singer Rihanna, erecting a marble statue in her honor as she is pregnant. Rihanna is expecting her first child with her rapper boyfriend, ASAP Rocky and the Metropolitan Museum of Art has made it immortal. It is a historic …

At least 600,000 children in Ethiopia are out of school, the result of a severe drought that is forcing many families to move to other parts of the country. According to Gianfranco Rotigliano, the UNICEF representative in the country, these children no longer go to school because teachers have also …

Senegalese President Macky Sall announced the regulation of social networks in the country, calling them “a real cancer of modern societies”. “No organised society can accept what is happening here today. We are going to put an end to it, one way or another,” local media quoted him as saying. …

Turkey strongly condemned on Tuesday the terrorist attack against the military base of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) in the center of the country, where Burunian soldiers house. In a statement, the Turkish Foreign Ministry condemned the attack by Al-Shabab militants on the AU base. “We strongly …

South African convict Thabo Bester, also known as the Facebook rapist for using the social networking site to lure his victims, has been found dead in his prison cell, according to local media reports. The Department of Correctional Services (DCS) spokesperson is quoted as confirming the death at the Mangaung …