Africa

Gunmen storm villages, kill 53 in Nigeria’s Zamfara state

Assailants on motorbikes raided several villages in the northern states, attacking farmers and pursuing those who attempted to flee, police and residents say. Armed assailants have killed 53 people in northwest Nigeria’s Zamfara state, according to police and local residents, the latest violence to hit the restive region. Many motorcycle-riding …

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Algeria arrests prominent journalists, activist before election

Amnesty says arrests of Khaled Drareni, Ihsane El-Kadi, and Karim Tabbou are evidence of ‘chilling escalation’ in the clampdown on dissent. Authorities in Algeria have arrested two prominent journalists and a well-known opposition figure, just days before the country’s parliamentary election. Algeria is set to hold its first legislative election …

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Blast kills two at southern Libya checkpoint

A blast struck a checkpoint in the southern Libyan city of Sebha on Sunday, killing at least two people including a senior police officer, local police, city officials and medics said. A security source in Sebha said the blast was caused by a suicide bomber who detonated a car bomb. …

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Nigeria says it suspends Twitter days after president’s post removed

Nigeria said on Friday it had indefinitely suspended Twitter’s activities, two days after the social media giant removed a post from President Muhammadu Buhari that threatened to punish regional secessionists. Information Minister Lai Mohammed said the government had acted because of “the persistent use of the platform for activities that …

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Twitter removes Nigerian president’s ‘abusive’ civil war post

Twitter removed on Wednesday a post by Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari threatening punishment for regional secessionists blamed for attacks on government buildings. The social media firm said Buhari’s tweet, referring to the 1967-70 civil war in the southeastern Biafra region that killed 1 million people, violated its “abusive behaviour” policy …

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