ABDI SHEIKH AND FEISAL OMAR THE head of Somalia's military escaped unhurt and one civilian was killed on Monday when a suicide attacker drove a bomb-laden car into a convoy in the capital Mogadishu, according to a military spokesman and an ambulance service. The al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group said it was behind the attack. General Yusuf Rage was driving in the convoy near the military hospital in Mogadishu's Hodan district when the blast struck, Colonel Abdiqani Ali, the military spokesman said. "The commander's guards opened fire on the suicide car bomb as it speedily tried to swerve into the…

Ivory Coast's Vice President Daniel Kablan Duncan has resigned, President Alassane Ouattara's office said on Monday. Patrick Achi, the secretary-general of the presidency, told reporters that Kablan Duncan, who previously served as Ouattara's prime minister, was leaving for personal reasons. His resignation comes days after the sudden death last week of Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, who was also the ruling party's candidate for October's presidential election. - Thomson Reuters Foundation

THE United Nations and the European Union have condemned the Malian government's use of lethal force during protests calling for President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita to resign and urged it to release detained opposition leaders. On Friday the latest and third mass demonstration held since protests began in early June turned violent, with police firing gunshots toward demonstrators, some of whom had occupied state buildings in Bamako. Protesters have been calling for Keita to step down over his failure to quash violence by jihadist groups and ethnic militias, and over disputed results of legislative elections in March. The government acknowledged four…

KHALED ABDELAZIZ SUDAN will permit non-Muslims to consume alcohol and strengthen women's rights, including banning female genital mutilation (FGM), its justice minister has announced, in a reversal of almost four decades of hardline Islamist policies. About 3% of Sudan's population is non-Muslim, according to the United Nations. Alcoholic drinks have been banned since former President Jaafar Nimeiri introduced Islamic law in 1983, throwing bottles of whisky into the Nile in the capital Khartoum. The transition government which took over after autocrat Omar al-Bashir was toppled last year has vowed to lead Sudan to democracy, end discrimination and make peace with…

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER QUEEN Noloyiso Sandile, the most senior member of a South African royal family to die of COVID-19, has been laid to rest after a solemn and dignified service. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa wrote a moving eulogy, paying tribute to the Queen Sandile, whom he described as a woman of valour who fought fiercely for women empowerment. The eulogy was delivered by Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe on behalf of Ramaphosa. Mantashe said: “We have lost a great leader, and a steadfast matriarch of the most noble character. A woman is the cornerstone of society. She is the…

MALI's opposition has rejected concessions by President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita aimed at resolving an escalating political crisis that has sparked deadly protests, saying it would be satisfied only if he resigns. Keita announced in a speech he was dissolving the Constitutional Court and would move to implement recommendations made last month by regional bloc ECOWAS, which included re-running some of March's contested legislative elections. A spokesman for M5-RFP, a coalition of political, religious and civil society leaders that launched protests over a month ago calling for Keita to resign, rejected his proposal. "We are not going to accept this nonsense,"…

DAWIT ENDESHAW ETHIOPIAN authorities have arrested two suspects over the killing of a popular political singer, whose death last week sparked protests in which 166 people were killed. The shooting of Haacaaluu Hundeessaa, a musician widely revered among his Oromo ethnic group, ignited protests in Addis Ababa and the surrounding Oromiya region. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed described his killing as "an evil act". In a televised statement, Attorney General Adanech Abebe said that the shooter was acting on the orders of an anti-government group, the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF-Shene). The two men who were arrested included the suspected shooter and…

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER FIVE people were shot dead, several injured and 40 were arrested during a hostage drama at one of Africa’s biggest and richest churches - the International Pentecostal Holiness Church (IPHC) - in Zuurbekom, west of Johannesburg. The South African Police Service said the incident took place at the IPHC around 3 am. A total of 25 firearms were seized. There is a heavy police presence at the church, which has been rocked by divisions and fights in the past 10 years. Police were involved in negotiations and managed to defuse the situation and rescue close to 200…

TIEMOKO DIALLO and FADIMA KONTAO POLICE in Mali have fired gunshots and tear gas to try to dislodge protesters demanding the resignation of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita from occupying the state broadcasting house and parliament, according to a Reuters witness. Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta. Photo: UNESCO/Christelle Alix Two sources said at least one person was killed outside the national assembly building. Mali's state television ORTM went off the air after hundreds of protesters occupied the building in the capital Bamako. The protesters, called to a rally by an opposition coalition, also tried to take over two major bridges. The protest was…

ANGE ABOA IVORY Coast's ruling party may ask President Alassane Ouattara to rethink his decision not to stand for a third term, after the sudden death of his chosen successor, Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly, a party official has said. Ouattara announced in March that he would not run in an election in October after 10 years in office, and designated Gon Coulibaly, his closest political ally, as the RHDP party's candidate. Gon Coulibaly's death on Wednesday, less than a week after he returned to Ivory Coast from an extended medical leave in France for heart issues, left the RHDP…