Africa: News on Africa from The New York Times

Here is the latest African news stories from The New York Times

Shabab Militants Claim Deadly Attack on Hotel in Somalia
At least 10 people were killed and dozens were wounded in an attack on a hotel and public garden in Mogadishu. Security forces managed to stop militants from storming the building, officials said.

At Least 14 Dead as Shabab Gunmen Attack Hotel in Somalia
Gunmen forced their way into a hotel in the Somali capital on Friday night, exchanging fire with hotel guards and leaving 14 dead before government security forces ended the attack, the police said.

In DNA, Clues to the Cheetah’s Speed and Hurdles
A big cat named Chewbaaka has enabled scientists to sequence and decrypt the cheetah’s complete genome.

Editorial: Helping Women in Africa Avoid H.I.V.
A promising new device lowered infection rates for some women, but more work and research is needed.

World Briefing: South Africa: Student Protesters Force Their University to Close
North-West University said the protesting students burned an administration building and science center at the campus in Mafikeng on Wednesday night.

U.S. Plans to Put Advisers on Front Lines of Nigeria’s War on Boko Haram
The deployment of dozens of Special Operations advisers would push American troops hundreds of miles closer to the battle that Nigerian forces are waging against the militants.

Rights Group Reports Deepening Violence in Burundi
Human Rights Watch said it had found “an alarming new pattern of abductions and possible disappearances” in the Central African country.

World Briefing: South Africa: Students Injured in Clash
University guards fired rubber bullets and tear gas after disruption at a student council event, officials said.

World Briefing: Burundi: President to Free Detainees
President Pierre Nkurunziza has promised to release 2,000 people detained during months of unrest.

World Briefing: Zimbabwe: Government Seizes Mining Operations
All diamond mining will now be managed by the Zimbabwe Consolidated Mining Company, wholly owned by the government.

John E. Reinhardt, Ambassador and Head of U.S. Information Agency, Dies at 95
Dr. Reinhardt was the first black American ambassador to Nigeria, and the first career diplomat and first university educator to lead the information agency.

Vaginal Ring With Drug Lowers H.I.V. Rates in African Women
A flexible ring that slowly releases an antiviral drug into the vagina helped protect African women against H.I.V. infection, two studies reported.

Uganda Opposition Candidate Taken From Home
Kizza Besigye, the runner-up in the presidential election last week, had been under house arrest, and the United States had called for his release.

U.S. Scrambles to Contain Growing ISIS Threat in Libya
As U.S. intelligence agencies say the number of Islamic State fighters in Iraq and Syria has dropped, the group’s ranks in Libya have roughly doubled.

Newly Elected Central African Republic Leader Faces Hard Realities
Faustin Archange Touadéra, a former prime minister, was declared the winner of the presidential election in the Central African Republic, which emerged from a civil war with a devastated economy.

U.S. Calls for Release of Uganda’s Opposition Leader
The police arrested the most popular challenger to the president, before the results of a flawed election were announced.

Yoweri Museveni, Uganda’s President, Wins a Widely Criticized Election
Mr. Museveni, the country’s longtime president, cruised to victory in an election marred by irregularities, violent protests and the arrest of his main opponent.

Former Prime Minister Wins Central African Republic’s Presidential Runoff
Faustin-Archange Touadéra inherits the enormous task of trying to restore order in a country where armed rebel groups still control much territory.

Cameroon Blames Boko Haram in Pair of Suicide Bombings
A week after Cameroon began a new offensive against the militant group, two attackers detonated explosives in Mémé, local reports said, killing nearly two dozen people.

Kizza Besigye, Main Opposition Candidate in Uganda, Is Arrested Again
Mr. Besigye was arrested for the second time in two days as voting continued amid unrest in the capital.

Nairobi Park’s Lions, a Draw for Tourists, Take a Trip of Their Own
A number of lions that slipped out of Nairobi National Park on Friday, but the police did not report any unwanted encounters.

U.S. Strikes ISIS Camp in Libya, Killing More Than 30
The airstrikes targeted a senior Tunisian operative linked to two major terrorist attacks in Tunisia last year, a Western official said.

Letter From Africa: Truth, Reconciliation and Now, a Prosecution in South Africa
Four police officers will be tried in the torture and murder of an anti-apartheid courier in 1983, a triumph for the judicial process, however slow.

World Briefing: Ghana: Dozens Killed in Road Accident
A head-on collision between a passenger bus and a truck killed at least 61 people in the deadliest road accident in recent memory in the country, officials and witnesses said Thursday.

Top Opposition Candidate in Uganda Is Arrested on Election Day
Kizza Besigye, the main challenger to President Yoweri Museveni, was apprehended by the Ugandan authorities, who did not comment on the arrest.

With a Boom Before the Cameras, Nigeria Redefines African Life
Nollywood is resonating across the continent with its stories of a pre-colonial past and of a present caught between village life and urban modernity.

News Analysis: Uganda, Firmly Under One Man’s Rule, Dusts Off Trappings of an Election
The pressure for multiparty democracy seems to be fading in African politics, but many longtime leaders feel the need to go through the motions.

Editorial: A Tale of Horror at the United Nations
The organization is failing some of the world’s most vulnerable children by not cracking down on sexually abusive peacekeeping troops.

World Briefing: Zimbabwe: Owner of Impounded Jet Says Body on Board Was a Stowaway
The American corporate owner of the cargo jet impounded in Zimbabwe after the bloodied body of a man was discovered aboard during a refueling stop confirmed that man was a stowaway.

Nigerian Women Freed From Boko Haram Face Rejection at Home
Community members worry that the women and girls, many of whom were raped, have been radicalized and might try to recruit for the militant group.

Op-Ed Contributor: Uganda’s Least Equal Voters: The L.G.B.T.I.
One hate law has been overturned, but the government still finds ways to silence and punish L.G.B.T.I. activists and groups.

Americans and Dutch Train Senegal Commandos as Fears of Terrorism Grow
The exercises come at a time of heightened worries after recent Qaeda attacks at luxury hotels in the capitals of Mali and Burkina Faso.

U.S.-Owned Plane Carrying Corpse and Cash Is Impounded in Zimbabwe
The cargo jet, transporting money for the South African Reserve Bank, was seized during a refueling stop after a body dripping blood was found on board.

Op-Ed Contributor: Le procès Habré, un succès à ne pas répéter
Jamais dans une affaire de crimes contre l’humanité la voix des victimes n’aura été aussi dominante. Et l’Union africaine conclut : ne recommençons pas.

Op-Ed Contributor: The Landmark Trial of Hissène Habré
Never in a trial for mass crimes have the victims’ voices been so dominant. And the African Union is saying: Never again.

Opposition Candidate Arrested Days Before Uganda’s Presidential Vote
Kizza Besigye, a onetime confidant of President Yoweri Museveni who is now challenging him for the presidency, was detained as he was holding a rally.

Malawi Gets Its First Grammy Nomination, With Album by Prison Inmates
The work has been an unexpected boon for the tiny African nation and now goes up against the works of well-known artists in the world music category.

Trial of Chad’s Ex-President Is Punctuated by His Noncooperation
Guards had to confine Hissène Habré, the former president of Chad, to the defendant’s chair nearly every day for four months.

Shabab Claims Plane Attack
A man who set off a bomb was sucked out of a Daallo Airlines plane through a hole when the blast ripped open the cabin in flight, officials said.

Congo Rebels Killed 6 and Kidnapped 14, Group Says
A statement from the group blamed the Allied Democratic Forces, a rebel group with origins in neighboring Uganda.

War, Disease, Scandals: Slugging It Out in Sierra Leone’s Soccer Politics
Isha Johansen, the president of Sierra Leone’s soccer association, is one of just a handful of women in the world to have held such a post.

Ex-Guantánamo Detainee Is Freed From Moroccan Prison
Younis Shokuri had remained in custody for months despite assurances from Morocco that he would probably be released soon after his transfer from the prison in Cuba.

Rivals Disrupt Jacob Zuma’s Speech on South African Economy
Rocked by scandal, Mr. Zuma gave a state of the nation address more humbled than he has ever been. The opposition took the chance to demand his resignation.

South Sudan Leader Takes Major Step to Ending Conflict
President Salva Kiir said he was reappointing his rival as first vice president, an important condition of a deal to end more than two years of war.

Nigeria Vexed by Boko Haram’s Use of Women as Suicide Bombers
Three girls sent by Boko Haram this week to attack a camp for those seeking to escape violence revealed a weakness in defenses against the militants.

Op-Ed Contributor: Don’t Forget Darfur
A reckless new military offensive by the Sudanese regime threatens another humanitarian disaster in the region.

Suicide-Bomber Girls Kill 58 in Nigerian Refugee Camp
The victims were among the more than 50,000 people forced from their homes by Boko Haram, only to be terrorized in the place they had sought refuge.

Security Fears Hang Over African Marathons
The marathon circuit in Africa has expanded in recent years to countries like Senegal, Nigeria, Ivory Coast and Gabon, despite concerns over potential terrorist attacks.

Tunisian Town Simmers With Unrest Over Lack of Jobs and Investment
In a country where nearly a third of young people are unemployed, the jobless in Kasserine have occupied part of the governor’s office and declared a hunger strike.

Ring of Elephant Poachers Broken Up by Tanzanian Authorities
An inquiry into a British pilot’s death led to nine arrests — including a conservation intelligence officer — on charges of poaching elephants for their ivory.

Released From Guantánamo, but in Legal Limbo in Morocco
Younis Shokuri feared being repatriated to Morocco, and his lawyers said they were assured there was a deal between the U.S. and Moroccan governments. Yet he remains in custody in his native country.

world briefing: Somalia: Residue From Explosives Found in Jet, Airline Says
The top executive of the airline, whose jetliner was damaged in an explosion shortly after takeoff this week, cautioned that the findings were inconclusive.

world briefing: Nigeria: Separatist Groups Deny Any Role in Ship’s Hijacking
Claims that the ship was boarded last week by separatists are probably a cover to lend legitimacy to a kidnapping for ransom, a maritime security expert said.

U.N. Report Accuses Rwanda of Training Rebels to Oust Burundian Leader
The report said investigators had spoken with 18 Burundian rebels who claimed to have been trained inside Rwanda.

Matter: DNA Study of First Ancient African Genome Flawed, Researchers Report
When other researchers studied the 4,500-year-old-genome, they discovered that the conclusion that much of Africa has Eurasian ancestry was incorrect.

U.N. Peacekeepers Accused of Rape in Central African Republic
A Human Rights Watch report on abuse by peacekeepers in Central African Republic added to what the United Nations has called a serious problem.

Obama Is Pressed to Open Military Front Against ISIS in Libya
The number of Islamic State fighters in Libya has grown to between 5,000 and 6,500, Pentagon officials said, more than double the estimate of last fall.

Bomb Suspected in Deadly Explosion on Somali Jet
The blast above the plane’s right wing on Tuesday sucked one passenger out, killing him, and injured two others. Shabab militants are suspected.

Jacob Zuma, South African Leader, to Repay Part of Money Spent on His Home
The president has been dogged by reports about $23 million in public funds used to make extensive upgrades to his homestead.

Trial of Ivory Coast’s Laurent Gbagbo Will Test International Criminal Court
The former leader of Ivory Coast will be the first ex-president to be tried by the court when it opens on Thursday.

World Briefing: Sudan: President Opens Border With South Sudan
The border was closed in 2011, when relations deteriorated after the south seceded after a civil war.

World Briefing: Nigeria: Deadly Explosions Erupt in Northern Market
At least 12 people were killed when explosives were detonated in the northern town of Chibok, where Boko Haram militants abducted more than 200 girls almost two years ago.

Eat: The Generosity in Senegalese Stew
Learning how to cook chicken mafe includes unexpected lessons in hospitality.

Lens Blog: South Africa’s Pantsula Dancers Bring Life to the Streets
Pantsula, a South African dance that is more like a way of life, captivated Chris Saunders, who set out to document a subculture with roots in jazz and hip-hop.

Burundi Mass Grave Clues Seen in Satellite Photos, Group Says
The Amnesty International analysis added to growing evidence of atrocities. Separately, two foreign journalists who had been detained were released.

Peacekeepers Accused of Sexual Abuse in Central African Republic
The latest cases, uncovered by investigators in January, add to concerns about the failure of the United Nations to address a long-running scandal.

World Briefing: Nigeria Plans Inquiry Into Deadly Clashes Between Army and Shiite Sect
Members of the sect, the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, have said that as many as 800 people were killed during the clashes in December.

Boko Haram Burns Villages in Northeastern Nigeria
At least 50 people, including children, were killed by gunmen and suicide bombers in a series of raids on villages outside the city of Maiduguri, officials said.

Cartoonist Is Arrested as Egypt Cracks Down on Critics
The arrest of the cartoonist Islam Gawish escalated a crackdown by the government on even moderate forms of dissent.

African Union Says Crisis in South Sudan Is Worsening
A new, nine-page report blames government forces and rebels for the declining humanitarian situation, in which starvation, lack of government oversight and violence reign.

Killing of Pilot Highlights Tanzania’s Struggle With Poachers
Officials said they were closing in on the poachers who shot and killed a British helicopter pilot, in a country whose elephant population has declined drastically.

Boko Haram Raid in Nigeria Kills at Least 65
Militants descended Saturday evening on the small village of Dalori, where they unleashed a torrent of gunfire, set homes ablaze, blew up fleeing residents and abducted children.

World Briefing: Ivory Coast: Gbago Was a Defender of Democracy, Lawyer Tells Court
A defense lawyer made the argument in his opening statement at Laurent Gbagbo’s trial on charges of crimes against humanity.

Contributing Op-Ed Writer: My Secret Policeman
In Egypt, if a National Security officer calls to ask you ‘to tea,’ it’s an invitation you can’t refuse.

Anti-ISIS Coalition to Intensify Efforts, John Kerry Says
The secretary of state said the formation of a national unity government in Libya would prevent the Islamic State from seizing control of the country.

18 Elephants on a Plane: Move From Swaziland to U.S. Is Criticized
Three zoos formed a partnership to house the elephants, which were said to be threatened by habitat destruction and drought, but conservationists said the move imperiled the animals.

Muslim Conference Calls for Protection of Religious Minorities
The gathering in Morocco of muftis, theologians and scholars issued a declaration welcomed by many as a hopeful sign, though also seen with some skepticism.

World Briefing: Somalia: Plane Lands After Explosion
The plane, operated by Daallo Airlines and headed to Djibouti, was forced to land minutes after taking off from Mogadishu.

World Briefing: Nigeria: Ship’s Hijackers Make a Threat
Nigerian separatists threatened to blow up a merchant ship if the authorities do not release a separatist leader seeking the independence of Biafra.