South African woman fall to her death while on first date with British man

Just hours after meeting an English man she had only spoken to online, a young Johannesburg woman tragically fell from a cliff to her death at the weekend.
Cheynne Holloway, 21, had walked up to the top of a popular cliff in Northcliff with her friend James Oliver, to look at the view at about 17:45 on Saturday, reported Netwerk24.
Sapa reported a paramedic as saying that some rocks gave way and Holloway fell about 20m down.
A witness, Armand Goosen,  told Netwerk24 that Oliver was taking photographs of the young woman with a view of Johannesburg in the background. He looked down to adjust his camera’s tripod and when he looked up, Holloway was gone.
“Where is she? Where is she?” he was heard screaming helplessly.
Goosen said he and another man had gone down to look for Holloway. When they found her she was only barely alive. Oliver tried for about 20 minutes to give her CPR.
The paramedic was quoted by Sapa as saying that they took over CPR but unfortunately Holloway was declared dead on the scene.
Holloway was the bassist for a band called Burning Blue. Messages of condolences poured in on the group’s Facebook page.
The band wrote: “Our hearts are shattered. The girl everybody loved, our precious friend and more, Cheynne, passed away in a tragic hiking accident yesterday. The most beautiful, shining soul has left us.
“We can't even think right now. There are simply no words.”

- News24

As the floods ravage Malawi, concerns on food security increases

Food security has become a major concern as torrential rains are expected to continue in the southern African country of Malawi.
According to Eye Witness News, more than 200 people were confirmed dead and many were missing or trapped in inaccessible areas, following flash floods caused by days of torrential rains exacerbated by Tropical Cyclone Bansi. 
The rains have swept away roads, bridges and destroyed thousands of crops. An estimated 100 000 people have been left homeless.


Flood victims make their way to a relief station with their salvaged belongings at Bangula, Malawi, in the southern district of Nsanje. (Thoko Chikondi, AP)

Mali's health minister declares the nation Ebola free

Mali recorded its first case of Ebola in October

Mali's health minister says the country is now free of the Ebola virus, after 42 days without a new case of the disease.

"I declare this day... the end of the epidemic of the Ebola virus in Mali," said Ousmane Kone.
The last Ebola-infected patient in Mali recovered and left hospital in early December.
Latest figures show the three West African countries worst affected have all seen a decline in new Ebola cases.

Another rebel leader captured in Central African Republic

A leader of Central African Republic's anti-Balaka Christian militia, a widely feared commander who has been implicated in attacks on civilians throughout the battle-scarred country, has been arrested, a justice official said Sunday.

 

UN Peacekeepers -Photo credit AFP

Rodrigue Ngaibona, alias Andilo, was arrested in the town of Bouca on Saturday by Cameroonian peacekeepers, prosecutor Maurice Dibert-Dollet said in a statement. An arrest warrant was issued last May linking Ngaibona to murders, rapes and looting during the country's unprecedented sectarian violence in which thousands have died.

Boko Haram kidnaps dozens of children across the border in Cameroon

Boko Haram has kidnapped many people in Nigeria including more than 200 girls from a school last April

Suspected militants from Nigerian Islamist group Boko Haram have kidnapped dozens of people in raids in neighbouring Cameroon, officials say.

They said many of those kidnapped in the cross border attack against villages were children. Four villagers who tried to fend off the attackers were killed, a security source has told the BBC.

Not enough hotel rooms for AFCON teams in Equatorial Guinea

Teams arriving at the Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea have been forced to search for places to sleep because of a lack of hotel rooms.

Congo coach Claude Le Roy said five of his 35-strong party attending the tournament did not have accommodation.

He revealed that the hotel the bulk of his team are in lacks running water and has exposed electrical cables. 

Nigeria's president visits Boko haram ravaged north-east

Nigeria's president has faced criticism for not visiting the trouble-hit north-eastern regions

President Goodluck Jonathan has made a surprise visit to north-east Nigeria, in the aftermath of mass killings by Boko Haram Islamist militants.

Mr Jonathan told some of the 5,000 refugees who fled last-week's violence: "I want to assure you that you will soon go back to your houses."
It was his first visit to the north-east since March 2013.
Critics have accused the president of ignoring the victims of Boko Haram's violence in the region.

He cancelled a trip to the region last year.

Mozambique's raging flood splits major highway

A major highway in Mozambique has split after two bridges collapsed as a result of heavy flooding that has killed 25 people and displaces tens of thousands in the country, officials say. 
 
Parts of the country are also without electricity after torrential rains knocked down 10 pylons, reports say.
Heavy rains have also devastated neighbouring Malawi, where 48 have been killed about 70,000 have been homeless.
The southern African states have been hit by late summer storms.
The bad weather is expected to continue for several days.

Meet the latest one of Africa's most expensive footballers - Wilfried Bony from Ivory Coast

Manchester City have completed the signing of Swansea City striker Wilfried Bony in a deal that could be worth up to £28m. 

Bony has agreed a four-and-a-half-year deal at Etihad Stadium through to 2019 and will wear the number 14 shirt.
"It's a great feeling for me, it's a big honour to be here and it's a great challenge," the 26-year-old said.
He joined Swansea for £12m from Vitesse Arnhem in 2013 and was Premier League top scorer in 2014 with 20 goals.
The two clubs agreed the terms of the transfer at the weekend, with £25m cash up front and a further £3m in performance-related add-ons.
The deal makes Bony one of the most expensive African footballers in history.

Liberia worried about attacks along its border with Ivory Coast

Photo: Human Rights Watch

An Ivorian military post near the border with Liberia (file photo).

 

The Government of Liberia has expressed concern about news reports of recent attacks in border towns and villages along the border between Liberia and La Cote D'Ivoire.
The Liberia News Agency, quoting a statement issued Sunday by Information Minister Lewis G. Brown, said "Consistent with the policies of good neighborliness and a commitment to regional peace and security, the relevant Liberian security agencies are seriously investigating the reports as well as engaging their Ivorian counterparts."
The Liberian government says it is "fully committed to working with and supporting the Ivorian authorities and international partners in strengthening border security, regional peace and stability, as well as raiding the two countries of the mutually destabilizing activities of non-state actors."

Tanzania moves to ban witchdoctors over attacks on the nations albinos

                                                     Campaigners hope the younger generations of albino people will have a safer future

Tanzania has banned witchdoctors in a move intended to stop attacks on people with albinism.

Home Affairs Minister Mathias Chikawe said there would be a nationwide operation to "arrest them and take them to court" if they continued to work.
Albino people, who lack pigment in their skin, have faced attacks for their body parts, which witchdoctors believe bring good luck and wealth.

Captured Ugandan LRA leader to be sent to ICC

                                                         LRA commander Dominic Ongwen says he was abducted by the rebels when he was 10 years old

A senior commander in the Ugandan militia group the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is to be sent to the International Criminal Court for trial, a Ugandan army spokesman says.

Dominic Ongwen, considered by some to be a deputy to LRA chief Joseph Kony, was taken into US custody last week.
Rebels in the Central African Republic (CAR) said he was captured; US officials say he defected.
The LRA has abducted thousands of children for fighting and sex slavery.
Both Mr Ongwen and warlord Joseph Kony are wanted by the ICC for crimes against humanity.
Paddy Ankuda from the Ugandan army told Reuters that the transfer would be made by the CAR, where Mr Ongwen - also known as the White Ant - had surrendered.

South African court rules against Winnie

Winnie Madikizela-Mandela's attempt to stop a meeting from happening at former president Nelson Mandela's home in Qunu has failed, broadcaster eNCA said on Tuesday. 



The matter was struck off the roll because she did not own the Qunu property, eNCA said on its website. She was also instructed to pay costs.
The meeting, which is set to take place on Friday, was called by Mandela's grandson Mandla. It would be between the Mandela family and the abaThembu clan.
eNCA reported that Madikizela-Mandela wanted to stop the meeting from happening, fearing that violence could erupt.
She also claimed to own the property, the broadcaster reported.
Mandla reportedly said the meeting would go ahead and that the men of the family would try to unite the various factions, as his grandfather would have wanted, eNCA reported.

- SAPA

Teachers in Kenya enter second week of strike

AS the teachers' nationwide strike enters its second week, tutors in Mombasa say they will not be moved by their employer's threats.

Teachers' Service Commission secretary Gabriel Lengoiboni last week ordered education officials to conduct roll-calls in all schools to determine which teachers do not report for work.
Kenya National Union of Teachers Mombasa secretary Stephen Ouma said members want an increase to their salary and not allowances.
"Allowances do not benefit everybody because some allowances like the hardship allowances will only be given to those teachers in hardship areas. What about the teachers living in towns?" he said.
Ouma said Kenya will run short of tutors because students in colleges will be scared of venturing into teaching over fear that their salary will not be enough.

Tanzanian schoolgirls return home after fleeing to escape female genital mutilation

Hundreds of Tanzanian schoolgirls returned home on Monday after spending three months hiding in safe houses to escape genital mutilation, state television said.

Female genital mutilation (FGM) can range from hacking off the clitoris to the removal of the entire female genitalia.
At least 800 school girls fled to shelters run by charities and church organisations, which offer protection during the months FGM is traditionally carried out, from October to December. Some of the shelters are given police protection to ensure the girls remain safe.
Minister of Labour and Employment Gaudensia Kabaka called on traditional leaders to use their influence to stop "this retrograde practice."
Campaigners call the dangerous practice mutilation rather than the term female circumcision, so as to make clear the dangers it involves and the harm it causes.

Police in Democratic Republic of Congo disperse anti census protesters

Police fired tear gas on Monday at demonstrators trying to protest against a parliamentary debate on a proposed census in the Democratic Republic of Congo's which, if approved, could delay next year's elections.
Under the constitution, President Joseph Kabila will not be able to stand in the 2016 ballot, and critics say the government plan to insist on a census ahead of any vote might enable him to prolong his hold on office.

The mineral-rich Democratic Republic of Congo has some 65 million people spread across a nation as big as western Europe, with little infrastructure and difficult communications making any census highly difficult.

Tanzania-Zambia rail services at a stand still

The railway authority run by the two countries is short of money

Train services between Tanzania and Zambia have been paralysed by a strike by more than 1,500 Tanzanian workers. A union official said workers had not been paid for five months by Tanzania's government because of a financial crisis at the railway authority. The government has not yet commented on the strike. 

69 die in Mozambique after drinking local brew

                                                        Homemade beer is popular in many African countries, as seen here in South Africa

The number of people killed after drinking a "poisoned" homemade beer in Mozambique has risen to 69, state radio has reported. The beer, usually made from millet, may have been contaminated with crocodile bile, a health official said. 

A toddler was among those killed after apparently drinking the beer at a funeral in Tete province on Saturday. An official said it was the worst such tragedy to hit Mozambique, with 39 people still being treated in hospital.

143 Boko haram fighters killed by Cameroonian army

The Cameroonian army killed 143 Boko Haram fighters who attacked a military base in the northern town of Kolofata on Monday, in what the government said was the militants' heaviest loss yet on its territory.

One Cameroonian soldier also lost his life in the clashes, Communications Minister and government spokesman Issa Tchiroma Bakary said in a statement read out on television and radio.
The toll was "the heaviest loss yet" suffered by Boko Haram on Cameroonian soil, he said, and comes at a time of fears of increased cross-border raids by the Nigeria-based group into Cameroon, Chad and Niger.
The spokesperson said the attack began in the early hours when "several hundred" Islamist fighters took advantage of thick fog to cross over from Nigeria and tried to storm the town's military base, where an elite army unit is stationed.

Nigerian government insist 150 not 2000 were killed in Baga by Boko haram

Potiskum in the north-east was among the towns hit by explosions at the weekend

Nigeria says the number of people who lost their lives in an assault by Boko Haram militants on the town of Baga last week was no more than 150.

The defence ministry said this figure included "many of the terrorists" who had attacked the town in Borno state and faced resistance by troops.
Local officials earlier estimated the number of deaths at as many as 2,000.
Nigeria has often been accused of underestimating casualty figures to downplay the threat of Boko Haram.
The ministry dismissed higher estimates for deaths at Baga, in north-east Nigeria, as "speculation and conjecture" and "exaggerated".
It said the army was taking "necessary actions" to restore law and order there, but gave few details about the operation to recapture the town from the Islamist insurgents.