2015

DEFENCEWEB The European Union Training Mission in Somalia plans to train 1,200 Somali National Army (SNA) noncommissioned officers, junior officers, specialists and military instructors in 2015. The effort is part of an internationally…

The Nigerian Navy has announced plans to partner with the International Committee of the Red Cross to train Sailors on international arms laws and conflict resolution. Commodore Atiku Abdulkadir, the commandant of the Nigerian Navy College…

ADF STAFF Interpol announced plans to open a permanent office at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Sudan Tribune reported that Interpol’s head commander in Ethiopia, Girmay Kahsay, said Interpol has reached an…

REUTERS The Ghana Navy announced it freed a tanker that was hijacked off the coast of Nigeria and arrested eight pirates believed to be responsible for seizing it. Pirate attacks have increased in West Africa in recent years, raising…

DEFENCEWEB The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa and the University of Blida in Algeria signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a Joint Centre of Excellence in aeronautics research. The…

BBC NEWS AT BBC.CO.UK/NEWS The World Health Organization (WHO) has approved the first rapid blood test for Ebola. It should allow patients to be identified, isolated and cared for as quickly as possible to bring an end to the outbreak…

REUTERS When Namibians voted in November 2014, it marked a historic event as Africa’s first electronic election. Despite an 11th-hour challenge from the opposition party over the devices, the election commission used 4,000 voting machines…

Zakariya Ismail Hersi, a former senior al-Shabaab commander, speaks during a press conference at the presidential palace in Mogadishu, Somalia. VOICE OF AMERICA Somalia’s president has renewed an offer of amnesty to members of the…

REUTERS On the edge of Nairobi, two doors down from a gleaming display of Germany’s luxury Porsche cars, another showroom offers Africa’s answer to the continent’s potholed roads. It’s called the Mobius. It has no flashy dials, alloy…

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE In the blue waters off Cape Town, South Africa, a revolutionary experiment with an electronic barrier seeks to exploit the supersensitivity of sharks’ snouts to keep swimmers safe. The technology has been developed by…