African news : breaking news, features, analysis

Several Gambian students have been refused visas to the US to take part in an international robotics competition without being given any reasons, reports Al Jazeera.

The Doha-based broadcaster quotes the Director of The Gambia's ministry of higher education, Moktar Darboe, as saying the students had to pay $170 (£131) each for the visa application.

Tanzanian authorities have ordered the arrest of an opposition lawmaker for insulting President John Magufuli.

Police should detain Halima Mdee - a lawmaker from the main opposition Chadema party in the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam - for 48 hours, pending criminal charges, the Commissioner of the city's Kinondoni district, Ali Hapi, said.

Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe, on Monday handed a cheque of $1 million to the African Union (A.U.) Foundation as part of efforts aimed at lessening the body’s dependence on foreign aid.

The 93-year-old formally handed over the cheque to the A.U. Commission (AUC) chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, on the floor of the AU headquarters during the 29th Heads of State summit in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

Kenyans risk a fine of $10,000 (£8,000) or jail term of five years for using "impolite, disrespectful or inciting language on social media ", according to a new proposal to regulate online content during the election season, Nairobi News has reported.

The proposal is part of rules being co-authored by two government bodies: the Communications Authority and the National Cohesion and Integration Commission.

Chad's president, Idriss Deby, an important Western ally in the fight against Islamist militants, has warned  that cash-strapped Chad could be forced to withdraw some of its troops from the fight if it does not get financial help.

Chad has one of the most capable armies in the region and President Deby has played a key role in efforts backed by the West to combat neighbouring Nigeria's Islamic State-affiliated Boko Haram fighters, as well as al Qaeda.

AT least 40 people have been killed in fighting in the Central African Republic (CAR) a day after a ceasefire was signed between rebels and the government.

The mayor of the town of Bria, north-east of the capital, Bangui, spoke of bodies lying in the streets.

The truce, signed in Rome last Monday, included an immediate ceasefire.

At least nine children have been killed in Niger after torrential rains lasting over several days led to the collapse of houses in the capital Niamey, officials have told AFP news agency.

"The children were killed as buildings gave way in different parts of the city," Zourkaleini Maiga, the Secretary General of the local authority, said.

The estranged wife of incoming Lesotho Prime Minister Thomas Thabane has been shot dead ahead of  his inauguration scheduled for today.

Lipolelo Thabane, 58, was travelling home with a friend when both women were shot by an unknown assailant, the police say.

A Belgian judge has opened an investigation against the Democratic Republic of Congo's Minister of Justice, Alexis Thambwe Mwamba, for alleged crimes against humanity related to the shooting down of a plane almost two decades ago.

Forty-eight Zambian MPs from the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) have been suspended for 30 days for boycotting President Edgar Lungu's state of the nation address.

They refused to attend in March as they argued Mr Lungu was not the legitimate winner of last year's election.

Parliament speaker Patrick Matibini said the MPs' boycott was "gross misconduct", Lusaka Times reports.

Several people are reported missing after a seven-storey building collapsed last Monday night in an eastern suburb of the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

Emergency response teams have been at the scene in the Kware Pipeline Embakasi area.

The Star, newspaper said dozens of people had been evacuated moments before the collapse.

Pope Francis has told a group of Nigerian priests to pledge obedience to him or face suspension from the church.

The row is over the refusal by clergy in the diocese of Ahiara to accept the appointment of a bishop made in 2012.

A 17-year-old girl, who handed herself in to South African police, is expected to appear in court, accused of murder, after killing a man who allegedly tried to rape her.

"She was on her way to a local tavern when she was allegedly attacked by the deceased and fought back," police said.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has sacked the country's chief prosecutor, Johannes Tomana, after a tribunal found him guilty of misconduct and incompetence.

Local media say he will now face trial for criminal abuse of office.

Mr Tomana was suspended back in February 2016.

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, second son of the late deposed Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, has been freed from jail under an amnesty law.

His father's preferred successor, he had been held by a militia in the town of Zintan for the past six years.

The body found on Table Mountain on Tuesday has been named by Unicef as its associate director‚ Charlotte Nikoi‚ who disappeared more than 10 weeks ago.

Nikoi’s death was confirmed by Unicef in a statement issued in New York on Saturday. “We learned with great sadness that the remains of our colleague Charlotte (Nana Yaa) Nikoi have been found. All of us at Unicef are deeply saddened by this news and express our personal sympathies to her family‚” it said.

A fast urbanizing Africa is rapidly degrading the environmental assets of its cities.

Protecting those assets can increase the productivity and liveability of these cities, improve tourism opportunities, and enhance resilience to the impacts of extreme weather events, according to a new World Bank report, released Thursday, Greening Africa’s Cities.

Seventy-five African journalists drawn from 42 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have gathered in Tanzania's capital of Dar es Salaam to revisit rising challenges of urbanisation, one of the major setbacks for many African cities.

The four-day workshop led by the Chief Executive Officer of African Media Initiatives (AMI), organisers of the workshop, Mr Eric Chinje is funded by the World Bank.