In the news

Police in Mozambique said a bald man was beheaded by criminal gangs who wanted to sell it to a client from Mali but had to leave it in the central city of Muandiwa when their client disappeared. Some Mozambicans believe bald men’s heads contain gold. The first reports of bald …

Somali government spokesperson Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimuu was injured on Sunday in an explosion at a road junction in the capital Mogadishu, police and the national news agency reported. The explosion was set off by a suicide bomber, reports said. The al Qaeda-linked Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab, in comments on its …

The United Nations’ peacekeeping mission in Mali ( MINUSMA) has suspended its flights amid discussions over sanctions that have shut air and land borders to the West African country. “MINUSMA has to temporarily suspend all flights. We are in discussion with our Malian partners on the new mechanism for approving …

The new US special envoy to the Horn of Africa, David Satterfield is expected in Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Ethiopia, the State Department said on Friday, calling on Addis Ababa to help end conflict in the country. The new diplomat will visit the countries with Assistant Secretary Molly Phee. “They …

Dozens of people including two soldiers and a police officer have been killed and others abducted by gunmen in the north-western Nigerian state of Kebbi, local media report. The attack happened on Friday in the village of Dankade in Danko-Wassagu area but details are just emerging because there is no …

Unnamed government sources in the UK say plans are being drawn up to send hundreds of migrants to countries such as Ghana and Rwanda for processing and resettlement, the BBC reports quoting The UK Times newspaper. According to The Times, this is one of the populist policies being drawn up …

Former Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita alias IBK died on Sunday following a short illness at the age of 76, his family announced. “President IBK died this morning at 9:00 a.m. (GMT and local) at his home” in the capital, where he lived in retirement, away from public life, a …

The vice president of Democratic Republic of Congo’s parliament Jean-Marc Kabund resigned on Friday over what he described as bullying, humiliation and torture. Kabund, a top ally of President Felix Tshisekedi, quit two days after CCTV footage shared on social media appeared to show members of Tshisekedi’s Republican Guard raiding …

A fake army general has been arrested after allegedly forging the signature of the Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari to commit fraud. Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said Bolarinwa Oluwasegun, who was posing as an army general, defrauded Kodef Clearing Resources of over $650,000 (£475,000). EFCC said the suspect …

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa has left powers in the hands of Vice President Dr Constantino Chiwenga for three weeks, the country’s information ministry said on Friday. This is as the president begins his annual leave on Friday, the ministry has tweeted: HE President @edmnangagwa started his annual leave on 13 …