New Blow To Nkurunziza As Burundi Election Official Flees

Protesters opposed to Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza seeking a third term demonstrate in Musaga, a neighborhood of Bujumbura, on May 29, 2015 ©Landry Nshimiye (AFP)

Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza's controversial bid to stand for a third term in office suffered a new blow on Saturday after it emerged that a top election official had fled the country.

Sources said the election commission's vice president, Spes Caritas Ndironkeye, jetted out of the crisis-hit central African nation late Friday, leaving behind a resignation letter and preparations for next week's parliamentary elections in disarray.

Military Repels Boko Haram As Buhari Starts Term

In his inaugural speech after taking the oath of office, Muhammadu Buhari described Nigeria's Islamist rebels as a "mindless" and "godless" group that would ultimately be destroyed ©Pius Utomi Ekpei (AFP)

Nigeria's military on Saturday repelled a Boko Haram attack on the key northeastern city of Maiduguri, hours after President Muhammadu Buhari took office vowing to crush the Islamist group.

The overnight attack on the Borno state capital saw rocket-propelled grenades fired into homes in a bombardment that reportedly lasted several hours.

2-IN-1: CAR CHILD SEX SCANDAL: Child Sex Abuse Claims Shake UN As Revelations Continue

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein made his appeal after shocking revelations that French soldiers deployed in the Central African Republic have been accused of sexually abusing children in return for food ©Fabrice Coffrini (AFP)

The boys said they approached the French soldiers because they were hungry. Some were so young they didn't quite understand the acts the soldiers demanded in return. One boy, 8 or 9 years old, said he did it several times to the same soldier, "until one day an older kid saw him and told him what he was doing was bad."

Muhammadu Buhari Becomes President & Commander-In-Chief Of The Armed Forces Of The Federal Republic of Nigeria

Former General and Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, arrives for his Inauguration at the eagle square in Abuja, Nigeria, on Friday. Sunday Alamba AP

For the first time since Nigeria won its independence in 1960, the country has inaugurated an opposition figure as its next president.

Muhammadu Buhari, a retired general who ruled the country back in the '80s after a military coup, was sworn in as president of Nigeria on Friday.

Boko Haram Clash 'Kills 4 Chad Soldiers, 33 Islamists'

People cross a creek in N'Bougoua on the edge of Lake Chad on April 6, 2015 ©Philippe Desmazes (AFP)

A clash between Chad's army and Boko Haram on a Lake Chad island has killed four soldiers and 33 Islamists, a military spokesman said Friday.

"Boko Haram elements on Wednesday attacked our forces in Choua," military spokesman Colonel Azem Bermandoa Agouna told AFP, referring to a Lake Chad island in Chadian territory.

"The Chadian army violently repelled the attack. We killed 33 Boko Haram members and recovered several light arms and anti-tank grenades. We regret the loss of four soldiers and also recorded four wounded," Agouna.

Swiss Police Confirm Bomb Threat Received At FIFA Congress In Zurich - Local Media Reports

Participants listen to the opening speech of FIFA President Sepp Blatter at the 65th FIFA Congress in Zurich, Switzerland, May 29, 2015. (Reuters/Ruben Sprich)

Zurich police said the anonymous bomb threat was made by telephone to a Zurich-based newsroom, and that the congress room was searched.

Police spokeswoman Brigitte Vogt earlier confirmed to AFP that a bomb alert had been received at the venue, and that officers were at the scene.

No one was evacuated, but congress participants were initially denied re-entry into the auditorium while authorities conducted a search, a witness told Reuters.

Genetically Modified Bacteria ‘Sensors’ Could Detect Cancer, Diabetes

Reuters / Jonathan Ernst

Scientists have published two studies describing how genetically modified bacteria could help detect cancerous tumours and diabetes in mice, and potentially be used as a diagnostic tool for humans.

The first study, which was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, revelled how scientists had modified E. coli bacteria and transformed it into a sort of living sensor, which could stay in a mouse’s body for up to a month and detect tumours inside its body.

Nigeria's Adesina Wins Battle For AfDB Presidency; How The Voting Went Round By Round

Nigeria’s Akinwunmi Adesina was Thursday elected new president of the African Development Bank (AfDB) in a thrilling vote that saw major heavyweights from North Africa and southern Africa stripped away early in the opening rounds.

The dapper bow-tie wearing Agriculture and Rural Development minister will be a popular choice with the Africanist policy community, but will also provide a major boost for Nigeria’s flagging geopolitical ambitions, with a new president set to be sworn-in on May 29.

Barrister Ezebuwon Nyesom Wike Sworn In As Governor Of Rivers State

Ezebunwo Nyesom Wike

The Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has said that he will not be present at the swearing-in of his successor, Chief Nyesom Wike, GRAPHITTI NEWS reports.

There had been speculations that Amaechi may not be present at Wike’s inauguration as a result of the controversy surrounding the presidential and governorship elections in the state.

But Amaechi, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. David Iyofor, explained that he would rather be at the swearing-in of the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, on Friday, in Abuja.

South Korean Becomes China's First Confirmed MERS Case

World Health Organization Logo

China said on Friday a South Korean man had tested positive for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), China's first confirmed case, but that it had not found any symptoms in the 38 people who had close contact with him.

Authorities in South Korea said earlier that the man had skipped out of voluntary home quarantine to take a trip to China.

Muhammadu Buhari Sworn In As President Of Nigeria

Former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari was sworn in as President of Nigeria on Friday at a ceremony in the capital attended by numerous African heads of state and foreign dignitaries including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

Buhari, dressed in embroidered white babanriga attire, stood on the stage clutching a Koran in his right hand, as he pledged to uphold the constitution and laws of Africa's most populous nation.

Blatter: Decision Led To Crisis

Sepp Blatter called for unity on Friday

Sepp Blatter claimed that FIFA's crisis would not have happened if countries other than Russia and Qatar had won the vote for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

In what appeared a reference to the United States and England losing out, Blatter called for unity from FIFA's 209 associations ahead of the presidential election where the 79-year-old is standing for a fifth term of office.

China Executes Teacher For Rape And Abuse Of 26 Children

Li Jishun was convicted of having “raped or sexually abused” 26 girls aged from 4 to 11 (Photo: Alamy; Image source: Telegraph.co.uk)

China has executed a former teacher for raping and sexually abusing 26 children at his school, state media reported.

Li Jishun was convicted of having “raped or sexually abused” 26 girls aged from 4 to 11, the official Xinhua news agency said.

The abuse took place in 2011 and 2012, when he was a teacher at a primary school, it added.

Li was put to death on Thursday by a court in Tianshui, in the north-western province of Gansu, Xinhua said, adding that he was handed the heaviest punishment possible because of the harm caused to the children and the “extremely negative social impact” of the case.

“He took advantage of those who were both childish and timid and committed his acts in dormitories or classrooms,” Xinhua added.

It cited China’s Supreme People’s Court as saying child sexual abuse cases have risen in recent years, with 7,145 across the country in the 2012-2014 period. 

Leak Of Radioactive Material At India's Delhi Airport

Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi

There was a leak of radioactive material on Friday on board a Turkish Airlines freight plane at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport, government and airport officials said, adding it had been contained.

The leak was found in a medical consignment, a source at the capital's airport told Reuters, adding that the site had been cordoned off by emergency services who put a blanket over the spill.

Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who was holding a news conference when news of the leak broke, said the atomic energy experts had been immediately dispatched to the scene.

The airport source denied media reports that leak was large and said no people had suffered any radioactive contamination. The airport was later due to put out a statement.