Daily News on Issues Affecting Africa for January 13, 2015

Continue reading for a summary of recent news stories relating to some of the most pressing issues on the continent. We draw on a wide range of respected news sources, both from Africa itself and around the world. The themes of today's In the News post are: Nigerian refugee crisis following Boko Haram attacks, the failed conviction of Hosni Mubarak, discouraging results of recent Sudanese peace talks, Ugandan LRA commander to face the ICC, and an analysis of Ebola in Sierra Leone from the front line.

Thousands flee Nigeria after Boko Haram attack, Niger, Chad struggle

DAKAR/NIAMEY (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Some 20,000 Nigerians have fled to Chad, Niger and Cameroon in the past two weeks after their towns and villages were attacked by Islamist sect Boko Haram, according to the United Nations and government figures.

The influx of refugees has put further strain on some of the poorest nations in Africa, which are already struggling to feed and protect their own people in a region that is recovering from drought.

Human rights group Amnesty International says Boko Haram may have killed some 2,000 people around Jan. 3 in Baga in northern Nigeria.

To read more from Reuters, click here.

Mubarak's last conviction is quashed as court sends corruption case for retrial

Hosni Mubarak's last remaining conviction has been quashed, after the former Egyptian dictator successfully appealed against corruption charges for which he was initially found guilty last year. A Cairo appeals court sent the case to retrial on Tuesday.

The move means Mubarak, whose fall in 2011 came to symbolise the initial promise of the Arab Spring, has successfully fought all charges brought against him following his removal from power.

To read more from The Guardian, click here.

A Moment of Optimism on Sudan Peace Fades as New Talks Approach

[…] For a moment, it seemed like the momentum in this country — fractured by chronic instability in Darfur, violence in provinces like South Kordofan and Blue Nile, and simmering political tensions in the capital, Khartoum — was finally shifting.

But for all the initial optimism surrounding this round of peace talks, which ended here in the Ethiopian capital in December, Sudan's clashing politicians and rebels failed to reach an agreement. Talks are supposed to resume later this month.

To read more from the New York Times, click here.

Uganda LRA commander Dominic Ongwen 'to be sent to ICC'

A senior commander in the Ugandan militia group the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is to be sent to the International Criminal Court for trial, a Ugandan army spokesman says.

Dominic Ongwen, considered by some to be a deputy to LRA chief Joseph Kony, was taken into US custody last week.

Rebels in the Central African Republic (CAR) said he was captured; US officials say he defected.

The LRA has abducted thousands of children for fighting and sex slavery.

Both Mr Ongwen and warlord Joseph Kony are wanted by the ICC for crimes against humanity.

To read more from the BBC, click here.

Ebola in Sierra Leone: News from the Frontline

[…]Since then the Ebola virus has ravaged this part of West Africa. There have been nearly 21,000 reported cases and over 8,000 reported deaths. Disgracefully but sadly not surprisingly, it took a couple of incidents affecting the UK, US and Spain before the rest of the world woke up to the danger and help started to arrive in sufficient numbers financially and logistically. Now, as the numbers of infected people in Guinea and Liberia appears to be tailing off, here in Sierra Leone they continue to rise, albeit at a slower rate. As at the beginning of 2015 there had been 9,700 cases and 2,557 deaths, including 221 health care workers, who are in the forefront of the efforts to combat the disease.

To read more from African Arguments, click here.