France calls for EU cooperation with Africa over migrants

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The European Union (EU) needs to work more with African countries to tackle the arrival of migrants into Europe, France's prime minister said in an interview with a Greek newspaper on Thursday, Reuters news agency reports.

Zambian President to File Nomination Papers Thursday

Zambia’s incumbent President Edgar Lungu from the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) party plans to file his nomination papers at the Electoral Commission of Zambia on Thursday, according to Priscilla Isaac, director of elections at the commission.

Tilyenji Kaunda of the opposition United National Independence Party (UNIP) and son of Zambia’s first president Kenneth Kaunda, and Edith Nawakwi, first female presidential candidate from the Forum for Democracy and Development, have filed nomination papers to be presidential candidates for their respective parties in the run-up to the August 11 general election.
 

UN Security Council Renews Sanctions on South Sudan Leaders

WASHINGTON—

The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution Tuesday to renew sanctions against South Sudan’s leaders for another year. They include travel bans and asset freezes on persons believed to have impeded the peace and stability of the country.

The Security Council’s meeting to renew the resolution on South Sudan’s sanctions lasted only 20 minutes, but the vote means the sanctions will be extended until the end of May 2017.

Uber launches in Uganda

Catherine Byaruhanga

BBC Africa, Kampala

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Most people use motorbike taxis in Uganda

Taxi-hailing service Uber has launched in Uganda's capital, Kampala. 

Ugandans with a good internet connection, and the cash, can now order a taxi on their smartphone. 

US-headquartered Uber has seen explosive growth in many cities across the world and is now valued at more than $60bn (£42bn).

But it has provoked controversy and even violent riots in some countries, where traditional taxi drivers feel the service is muscling in unfairly on their business. 

It now operates in 12 African cities, but Kampala could be a very tough nut to crack. 

There aren't many people here who can afford private taxi rides, compared with South African or Nigerian cities like Cape Town and Lagos. 

And even those who can might still prefer motorbike taxis, known as boda bodas, which get you around quickly and cheaply.

Listen: The Boda Boda boom (BBC World Service documentary)

BBC Africa Live welcomes Uwa Nnachi

A big welcome to Uwa Nnachi, who joins us on the BBC Africa Live page for the next few months.

For those who are avid BBC Africa fans, Uwa will be no stranger to you…. and you may remember her as an aficionado of African fashion. Here she is modelling some clothes last year in Petticoat Lane in London:

BBC

Here's a link to her video about London's home of African fashion.

And you can expect much from her, including her tips this weekend on how to make tomato-less Nigerian stews.

Africa Live: Buhari aborts historic trip to Ogoniland, Ethiopia dumps Olympic star

Live reporting 

By Hugo Williams, Farouk Chothia and Uwa Nnachi

Get involved

• Send a text to 07341070844
• Send an email to africalive@bbc.co.uk
• Twitter: Use the hashtag #BBCAfricaLive
• Facebook: BBC Africa

New plan to target drug cheats

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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is to target Russia, Mexico and Kenya for drug testing ahead of the Rio Olympics.

Buhari Cancels Visit to Oil-producing Niger Delta

ABUJA—

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has cancelled at the last minute a visit planned for Thursday to the oil-producing Niger Delta, which has been hit by a wave of militant attacks, a government source said.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo will instead visit the restive southern region to launch a cleanup program of the Ogoniland, an area badly hit by oil spills, the source said, without giving a reason for Buhari's cancellation.

UN Chief Recommends Adding 2,500 Peacekeepers to Mali Mission

UNITED NATIONS —

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has asked the Security Council to add just over 2,500 peacekeepers to the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mali, which has been hit by a series of deadly attacks, according to a new U.N. report.

Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) claimed responsibility on Wednesday for an attack a day earlier on two U.N. sites in northern Mali where a peacekeeper from China and three civilians were killed and over a dozen others were wounded.

Africawatch Publication Meant To Denigrate Rawlings; An Attempt To Create Panic - Kofi Adams

Spokesperson for Ex-President Jerry John Rawlings and also the National Organizer of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Kofi Adams has concluded that a publication about the former President in the Africawatch Magazine is an attempt to create fear and panic among his lovers, followers and supporters.

Enterprising Idea: Ex Banker’s Dream of a Clothing Brand Pays Off

• Meet an ex-banker who left his well-paying but monotonous and unfulfilling job to start his own clothing line, ekse.

• For many entrepreneurs and creatives, a desire to make a change in the society, or in one’s life starts from an idea that can’t stop recurring until it is actualized.

Here Are World Economic Forum Top Five African Female Innovators

• At the just concluded World Economic Forum in Kigali, five dynamic young female innovators were recognized as Africa’s Top Female Innovators making a difference in their communities.

• As the curtains came down in Kigali, which was hosting World Economic Forum, five winners of the conference’s challenge to find Africa’s Top Female Innovator were announced.

Photos Speak: Kenya’s Police Brutality On the Rise Ahead of 2017 Elections

• Police brutality in Kenya is on the rise as the country heads for elections. Opposition leaders are calling for the electoral body to be reformed before the 2017 general elections.

• Kenyans are infuriated over the recent police brutality and have condemned the police for beating protesters at a demonstration in Nairobi.
  

Uganda: Smoke in Public Places at Your Own Risk

Uganda has introduced new tough measures aimed at deterring people from smoking in order to reduce smoke-related diseases such as cancer, heart disease, and high blood pressure.

• Uganda has enforced tough new laws on smoking and tobacco sales with smokers contravening the law at risk of being fined $60 or jailed for up to two months.
  

Africa's Five Nationalist Leaders: Their Biographies and Contribution

• 
• The list cannot be exhausted but the following are part of the crème de la crème of African nationalism.
• Africa has produced arguably the most vibrant of nationalists from the pre-colonial period right up to post-colonialism. The list cannot be exhausted but the following are part of the crème de la crème of African nationalism. Being a leader is not being a government official, it is having the necessary political clout to start a meaningful movement and contribute to African development.

Julius Malema’s EFF Won't Solve South Africa's Problems

• But without inclusive institutions, South Africa will be turned into a kleptocracy akin to countries like Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
• By Co-Pierre George, Senior Lecturer at UCT
  In “Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty”, economist Daron Acemoglu and political scientist James A Robinson argue compellingly that the key to economic growth and prosperity lies in strong and inclusive institutions.

Besigye 'Sworn In' As President, Then Arrested Ahead of Museveni’s Inauguration

• Uganda’s opposition leader Kizza Besigye was arrested on Wednesday after FDC's mock swearing in ceremony, ahead of President Yoweri Museveni’s inauguration on Thursday.

• The opposition leader Kizza Besigye was arrested yesterday by Ugandan police, just hours before the man he accuses of rigging the recent elections, Yoweri Museveni, is sworn in to extend his 30-year rule by another five-year term as president on Thursday.

World Deadliest Lake Nyos in Cameroon Killed 1700 In One Night

• In 1986, Lake Nyos exploded and killed more than 1,700 people and over 3, 500 livestock animals. A pipe was sunk into the lake allowing gasses to vent out regularly to avert such a tragedy in the future.
• People of Cameroon, especially those who live along the shores of Lake Nyos know very well the story of an evil spirit which emerged from the lake killing all those who lived near it.
  

New Evidence: The Real Reason Gaddafi Was Killed

• Qaddafi was not killed for humanitarian purposes but for the oil and for money. His ideas of an African gold-backed currency were his major undoing.
• The recent Hillary Clinton email leaks have opened a can of worms everywhere including in Africa. Wikileaks released an unclassified U.S.

African leaders must deal with unemployment – Group

The Returnees Diaspora Integrated Development Organization (RIDEO) has charged African countries to stop proffering goodwill messages and deal with the soaring unemployment situation and the threat of terrorism on the continent. RIDEO’s message was released to mark African Union Day celebrated yesterday, Wednesday. -

MORE AFRICA NEWS

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