Dozens Attend Memorial for Slain Ghanaian Journalist

Dozens of people gathered in Ghana's capital on Friday to pay tribute to an investigative journalist who was killed after helping to expose corruption in African football.

Ahmed Hussein-Suale, part of a team that carried out an undercover investigation, was gunned down in the Madina suburb of Accra on 16 January. The shooting was a rare assault on the press in Ghana, which prides itself as being one of the most stable democracies in an often turbulent region, and a beacon of media freedom. Many of the lawmakers, diplomats, politicians and journalists who gathered for the memorial called for justice to prevail. "Hussein-Suale's case must be resolved, and the perpetrators brought to book," said Roland Affail Monney, president of the Ghana Journalists Association, under whose auspices the ceremony was held.

Male Tanzanian MPs face circumcision call

DAR ES SALAAM -- A female MP in Tanzania has called for checks to determine whether or not her male colleagues have undergone circumcision - a procedure known to reduce the risk of HIV transmission. Jackline Ngonyani said any MPs found not to have been circumcised should be required to undergo the procedure. Her suggestion divided opinion among her colleagues. HIV is seen as a major threat to public health in Tanzania. Around 70% of the male population is circumcised. Around 5% of Tanzania's adult population is believed to have been infected by HIV-AIDS, giving it the 13th highest rate of infection in the world, according to figures from 2016. The World Health Organisation says circumcision reduces the risk of heterosexual men contracting HIV by around 60%.

Tunisia militants jailed over 2015 terror

TUNIS -- Seven jihadists have been sentenced to life in prison in Tunisia over gun and grenade attacks at a museum and a beach resort in 2015. Sixty people, mostly tourists, died in the attacks, and many were wounded. Other defendants received lesser prison terms, but 27 were acquitted. The first attack on the Bardo Museum in Tunis in March 2015 killed 22 people. Three months later, 38 tourists, most of them British, were shot dead at Port El Kantaoui near Sousse. Among the dead in the beach attack were a 24-year-old beauty blogger; a 49-year-old man, his father and his nephew; and several couples on holiday together. The man believed to have masterminded both attacks, Chamseddine al-Sandi, remains on the run, but there are reports that he was killed in a US air strike in Libya.

Nigerians frustrated ahead of vote

LAGOS -- Angry voters queueing for hours and entire parts of the country rendered war zones: pitfalls abound for Nigeria's fast-approaching general election. With just over a week until the 16 February opening of polls, logistical snafus have frustrated potential voters. Across the country on Friday, Nigerians made last-minute attempts to pick up biometric identification cards needed to cast ballots on what was to be the last day for collection. But many were unable to collect their permanent voters card, in a sign of the challenges ahead for the 84 million people registered to vote in presidential and legislative polls that will decide the balance of power in Africa's most populous country. The independent national electoral commission (Inec) had extended distribution over the weekend until today. - Nampa-AFP-BBC News

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