Africa (except North Africa)

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — At least 40 people were killed and dozens injured in a bus crash in central Senegal, the country’s president said Sunday.

President Macky Sall said in a tweet that the accident happened in Gnivy village, in the Kaffrine region, at about 3:30 a.m.

“I am deeply saddened by the tragic road accident today in Gniby causing 40 deaths and many serious injuries. I extend my heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and wish a speedy recovery to the injured,” said Sall.

NAIROBI, Jan 7 (NNN-KBC) — Kenya and Germnany are set to improve trade volumes and technology exchange for the benefit of their citizens. 

This is after trade talks between the President of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) Richard Ngatia and the Mayor of the City of Gersothen Michael Worle.

NAIROBI, Jan 7 - Six journalists in South Sudan have been detained over the circulation of footage showing President Salva Kiir appearing to wet himself at an official event, the national journalists union said on Saturday.

The footage from December showed a dark stain spread down the 71-year-old president's grey trousers as he stood for the national anthem at a road commissioning event. The video never aired on television but subsequently circulated on social media.

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somalia’s government claimed Saturday that the al-Shabab extremist group has for the first time asked to open negotiations, amid a military offensive the government has described as “total war.”

There was no immediate statement by al-Shabab, an al-Qaida-affiliate that for well over a decade has carried out high-profile bombings in Somalia’s capital and controlled parts of the country’s central and southern regions, complicating efforts to rebuild the once-failed state after decades of conflict.

JUBA, South Sudan (AP) — A journalists’ union in South Sudan asserted Friday that six staffers with the national broadcaster are detained in connection with footage apparently showing the country’s president urinating on himself during an event.

The South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation footage aired in December and was widely shared online. It showed 71-year-old President Salva Kiir standing during the national anthem and then looking down at what appeared to be a spreading stain before the camera turned away.

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenyan police were investigating the death of an LGBTQ activist whose body was found stuffed in a metal box, as human rights groups on Friday decried the killing.

Edwin Chiloba’s body was found on Wednesday on a road in Uasin Gishu County in the west of the country.

Police say a motorcycle taxi operator reported seeing the box being dumped by a vehicle with no license plates.

The rider reported the incident to police officers who were manning a nearby roadblock.

NAIROBI, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen), a state-owned utility, on Thursday announced plans to add 3,000 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy to the national power grid in the next ten years.

KenGen's Acting Managing Director Abraham Serem said the strategy will be largely driven by deploying geothermal and hydropower sources to stabilize the country's energy sources, thereby diversifying away from expensive thermal sources.

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Police in Somalia say two suicide car bombers killed at least 10 people early Wednesday when they targeted a military facility in a region at the heart of the government’s offensive against al-Shabab extremists.

The attack occurred in the Mahaas district of Hiran region after the dawn prayer. “It was loud and heard all across the town,” resident Osman Abdullahi told The Associated Press. “I have rescued several people wounded in the attack, including soldiers and journalists who were embedded with soldiers.”

LAGOS, Jan. 2 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian police said on Monday that they have killed a shooter after repelling an armed attack at a police checkpoint in the northern state of Katsina.

Gambo Isah, spokesman of Katsina State police, said police operatives engaged a group of shooters in a fierce gun battle, successfully repelling the attack at the checkpoint on the Magamar-Jibia road in the Jibia local government area of the state on Monday.

OUAGADOUGOU, Jan. 3 (Xinhua) -- At least 28 civilians were killed in the overnight of Friday to Saturday in Burkina Faso's northern Kossi province, an official statement said Monday night.

Jean-Emmanuel Ouedraogo, the spokesman of the government, said the tragedy occurred in Nouna, the provincial capital of Kossi in the northwestern Boucle du Mouhoun region in Burkina Faso.

He said that an investigation was immediately opened by authorities to clarify the circumstances of the tragedy and identify the responsibilities.