Africa News Headlines - Yahoo! News

Nigeria: Islamic extremist inmates to be released

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:07:15 -0400

ENUGU, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria's military said Tuesday that the West African nation would release some of the prisoners it has taken in the country's fight against Islamic extremists — including all the women now held in custody.

New Egypt tax law: cuts for poor, business hikes

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:00:28 -0400

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's president signed a new tax law Tuesday that cuts the amount paid by poorer Egyptians in the latest move aimed at reforming the country's economy.

South Africa: Winnie Mandela forced auction flops

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:36:09 -0400

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — There were no bidders and no locksmiths willing to force entry for a scheduled auction Tuesday to sell artworks and other belongings of Nelson Mandela's ex-wife.

Fighting for 2nd day between army, rebels in Congo

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:35:42 -0400

GOMA, Congo (AP) — Fighting between the M23 rebels and the army continued for a second day Tuesday near Congo's eastern provincial capital of Goma, in clashes that have so far killed 19 people, all of them either soldiers or rebels, officials said.

Court frees man in murder that shocked SAfricans

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:32:59 -0400

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A magistrate drops charges against the boyfriend accused in the brutal gang-rape and killing of a teenager that shocked South Africans.

Rebels in C. African Republic protest conditions

Tue, 21 May 2013 12:23:03 -0400

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — Some members of the rebel alliance who overthrew the president of Central African Republic are protesting outside the luxury hotel where their leader is based.

Uganda leader's legacy at stake in general's case

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:39:48 -0400

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — An army general's concern that officials are at risk of assassination if they oppose President Yoweri Museveni's alleged plan to have his son succeed him has stirred controversy in Uganda because it challenges the popular view of Museveni as a moderate leader, analysts said Tuesday.

South Africa: Mandela name pulled into politics

Mon, 20 May 2013 13:39:20 -0400

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Nelson Mandela, old and frail, lives in seclusion in his Johannesburg home. Beyond the high walls of the house, the fighting over his image and what he stood for has already begun.

M23 rebels clash with soldiers in eastern Congo

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:43:25 -0400

GOMA, Congo (AP) — Clashes erupted Monday in eastern Congo between government troops and a rebel group believed to be backed by neighboring Rwanda, escalating to the use of mortars and rocket launchers in the first fighting between the groups since the M23 rebels overtook and later retreated from the provincial capital of Goma last year.

Uganda police raid newspaper over general's letter

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:37:06 -0400

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Ugandan police disabled an independent newspaper's printing press after forcibly entering its premises to look for evidence against an army general who recently questioned the president's alleged plan to have his son succeed him, witnesses said Monday.

Militiamen attack gas complex in western Libya

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:56:03 -0400

TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — A Libyan gas company official says militiamen have attacked a natural gas complex in the country's west, injuring two guards and stealing weapons and military vehicles.

Rebels attack C. African Republic villages; 8 dead

Mon, 20 May 2013 11:03:38 -0400

BANGUI, Central African Republic (AP) — Suspected foreign fighters backing a rebel movement now in control of Central African Republic's government invaded a remote north-central village and killed six people, residents said.

51 die in 2 South Sudan clashes; army retakes town

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:03:34 -0400

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — Twenty-four people died in a battle between South Sudan's military and rebel fighters the government believes to be supported by neighboring Sudan, while a tribe-on-tribe cattle-raiding attack elsewhere in the country killed 27 people, officials said Monday.

Spokesman for Ansar Dine arrested in Mauritania

Mon, 20 May 2013 08:21:38 -0400

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania (AP) — The man who acted as the spokesman for one of the three al-Qaida-linked groups occupying northern Mali turned himself in over the weekend to Mauritanian authorities on the border, an intelligence official briefed on the matter confirmed on Monday.

M23 rebels clash with soldiers in east Congo

Mon, 20 May 2013 08:07:08 -0400

GOMA, Congo (AP) — Clashes erupted Monday in eastern Congo between government troops and a rebel group believed to be backed by neighboring Rwanda, the first fighting between the groups since the M23 rebels overtook and later retreated from the provincial capital Goma last year.

24 killed in rebel vs army battle in South Sudan

Mon, 20 May 2013 07:01:25 -0400

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — South Sudan's military spokesman says 24 people were killed and dozens wounded during a battle between government troops and rebels who had overrun a town.

'Britain's Obama' urges ties with West Africa

Sun, 19 May 2013 12:59:44 -0400

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — A rising star in Britain's Labour Party, described by some as the "British Barack Obama," Chuka Umunna urged the United Kingdom to more aggressively forge ties with West Africa's fast-growing economies.

Nigeria military: 17 killed during offensive

Sun, 19 May 2013 14:33:23 -0400

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria's military says its offensive against insurgents in the country's restive northeast has killed at least 14 suspected Islamic extremists and three soldiers.

Zimbabwe PM: We will end police, military abuse

Sun, 19 May 2013 12:53:59 -0400

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said Sunday his party will end years of bias and abuse by the police, military and intelligence services and will make sure the services uphold the country's new constitution which demands impartiality in their duties.

Politics, bribery charges swirl around Ugandan oil

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:24:47 -0400

KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — Even before the first drops flow, Uganda's oil sector is beset by bribery allegations against officials, tax-related cases abroad that cost the government millions in legal fees, and the alleged interference of a president whose firm control of the sector worries transparency campaigners.

Kenya police kill "terror couple"

Sun, 19 May 2013 08:20:10 -0400

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Police shot dead a couple suspected to be terrorists after they threw four grenades, wounding five officers in an overnight stand-off, a police official said Sunday.

Nigeria military declares 24-hour curfew in city

Sat, 18 May 2013 12:35:24 -0400

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria's military declared a 24-hour curfew Saturday on neighborhoods in a northeastern city that's the spiritual home of an Islamic extremist network as soldiers continued the government's emergency campaign in the region, with authorities saying they killed 10 suspected insurgents.

Ivory Coast army arrests militia leader

Sat, 18 May 2013 13:32:26 -0400

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — A militia leader accused of grave crimes during Ivory Coast's 2010-11 postelection violence was taken into custody Saturday not far from the national park where his forces had been illegally occupying in the country's volatile western region, officials said.

Journalist found dead in eastern Congo

Sat, 18 May 2013 12:49:34 -0400

GOMA, Congo (AP) — The body of a Congolese journalist was found on the bank of the Ngezi River near the provincial capital of Bunia in eastern Congo, the city's mayor said Saturday.

24-hour curfew in Nigeria city in military push

Sat, 18 May 2013 10:39:36 -0400

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria (AP) — Nigeria's military has declared a 24-hour curfew in several neighborhoods of a northeastern city as its campaign against Islamic extremists in the region continues.