UN halves food aid to Kenya

Nairobi - Food rations vital for half a million refugees in Kenya will be slashed in half due to an aid shortfall, the United Nations said on Friday in an appeal to donors.

"Cutting rations is the last resort", UN World Food Programme (WFP) deputy chief for Kenya Paul Turnbull said, calling for $38m more in cash, including an immediate $15.5m to feed refugees until January.

Most of the refugees in impoverished camps in northern Kenya come from neighbouring war-torn South Sudan and Somalia.

Burkina Faso govt to have civilian leader

Ouagadougou - Opposition parties, army representatives and religious leaders in Burkina Faso have reached an agreement on forming a one-year transitional government headed by a civilian president, media reports said on Friday.

The deal reached late on Thursday comes two weeks after the ouster of president Blaise Compaore and foresees the election of a civilian president by an electoral college.

Military leader Isaac Zida said a political president might have "favoured his party or an allied party" when organising elections due in a year, the website lefaso.net reported.

Namibia to be Africa's first to e-vote

Windhoek - In a first for Africa, Namibians will cast their ballots electronically in this month's presidential and legislative polls, the election commission said on Friday.

Over 1 million voters, or just about half of the nation's 2.3 million people, are due to vote on 28 November.

"I think it's a big achievement for Namibia and the African continent at large," Nontemba Tjipueja, chair of the Electoral Commission of Namibia told AFP.

Hunters kill 75 Boko Haram members in Nigeria – reports

Johannesburg - Hunters have killed at least 75 members of the radical Islamist group Boko Haram in a northern Nigerian town, daily newspaper Premium Times reported on Thursday.

According to the report, hunters in Maiha were angry about constant killings in northern Nigeria by Boko Haram militants, who had taken control of the town following a battle with government troops on Monday.

"The hunters mobilised and gave the insurgents a hot chase during which many Boko Haram sect members are killed," Maiha resident Bello Ya'u was quoted as saying.

US denies failing to help Nigeria fight Boko Haram

Washington - The United States hit back on Wednesday at allegations by the Nigerian ambassador of failing to help fight Boko Haram militants, saying there had been "a great deal" of US aid to his country.

In the past six months since the Islamic militants snatched at least 200 schoolgirls in northern Nigeria, Washington has shared intelligence with the Nigerian army, begun training a new battalion and held high-level talks on the threat of Boko Haram, a US official said.