Daily News on the Issues Affecting Africa for March 19th

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 updates on an al-Shaba'ab threat in Uganda, Nigerian extremism ramifications on education, counter-terrorism efforts of central African countries, continued strife in Central African Republic, military spending in East Africa, growth of poverty in Nigeria, and political retribution in Mali.

Somalia: Uganda issues warning over al-Shaba'ab terror attack in the country
Ugandan police have gone on high alert after issuing a terror warning following new threats found by the police, according to police spokesman. Uganda security agencies have said they have beefed up the security and the police were now more vigilant after they activated and tightened security in particular around fuel tanker stopovers and parking places. "We have received intelligence information that terrorists belonging to the Al-Shabaab group are planning to attack Uganda by hitting fuel tankers on transit, fuel depots and stations," deputy police spokesperson Onyango Patrick said in a statement late Monday. – allAfrica
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Nigeria: Borno schools closed fearing extremists
Nigeria's Borno state government is closing all high schools indefinitely amid fears of massive attacks by Islamic extremists, officials and teachers said Tuesday, confirming a move that may be considered a victory for the Islamic extremist Boko Haram terrorist network, whose nickname means "Western education is forbidden." They said some 85 schools will be closed, affecting nearly 120,000 students in an area that has the country's worst literacy rates. – The Washington Post
To read more, please visit the Washington Post site here.

Lake Chad countries agree on military task force amid insecurity
The countries around Lake Chad in central Africa say they will create a joint task force to combat arms trafficking, terrorism and cross-border attacks as tensions escalate in the region.  The conflict in the Central African Republic and the insurgency in northern Nigeria are having a regional impact, pushing refugees, weapons, and violence into neighboring countries. In response, defense and military chiefs from the six-member Lake Chad Basin Commission met in Cameroon Tuesday and gave a green light to a multinational military task force empowered to act against militant threats. – VOA
To read more, please visit the VOA site here.

CAR on the verge of genocide
The Amnesty International report details atrocities committed in January and February by the Christian anti-balaka (balaka means "machete" in the local Sango language) and Muslim Seleka rebels… Portions of the report read like accounts of the Rwandan genocide. Representatives of both Muslim and Christian communities in the Central African Republic said genocide is imminent unless peacekeepers do their job.  – Times Live
To read more, please visit the Times Live site here.

Kenya's military 7th highest spender beating Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi combined
Kenya has been ranked seventh in military expenditure in Africa importing more weapons in 2012 than Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi combined. This comes amid heightened security concerns in the region that have seen Kenya suffer several terrorist attacks resulting in deaths of hundreds of people in the last three years.  – Standard Digital
To read more, please visit the Standard Digital site here.

Nigeria overtaking South Africa masks poverty trap: economy
As Nigeria gets richer, more Nigerians live in poverty. That's the paradox of growth in Africa's biggest oil producer, its most populous nation and which, as of March 31, may be its top-ranked economy. The National Bureau of Statistics is recalculating the value of gross domestic product based on production patterns in 2010, the first time it's overhauled the data in two decades. That may boost the size of the economy by as much as 60 percent…Yet the most recent poverty survey by the Nigerian statistics agency, published in 2012, shows that 61 percent of Nigerians were living on less than a dollar a day in 2010, up from 52 percent in 2004. – Bloomberg
To read more, please visit the Bloomberg site here.

A tale of two soldiers – Mali's past leaders called to account
As Mali embarks on a difficult period of national reconciliation and the rebuilding of a fractured state, two key figures from the recent past - former president Amadou Toumani Toure and General Amadou Haya Sanogo, who staged a coup in 2012 - are being asked to account for their actions. – IRIN
To read more, please visit the IRIN site here.