African Briefs

Six dead, several missing in Nairobi landslide
NAIROBI – Massive boulders crashed onto houses in Mathare, a Nairobi slum, yesterday killing at least six people and trapping many underground after a night of heavy rains, police and the Kenyan Red Cross said.
‘Two other bodies have further been retrieved now bringing the number of those who have lost their lives in the Mathare tragedy to six people,’ the Red Cross said in a statement.

‘The main challenge at the moment is accessibility. The appropriate machinery for rescue cannot access the scene of the tragedy,’ it said.The Red Cross said more than 40 houses were destroyed in the sprawling slums in the north of the capital when huge boulders came crashing onto them early on Wednesday morning, the Kenya Red Cross said.Togo’s president apologises over pastLOME – Togo’s President Faure Gnassingbe on Tuesday begged for pardon from victims of political violence committed in the country between 1958 and 2005, part of which covered the period his father ruled.’To all the victims and those who suffered these acts of violence that caused them so much hurt and wound, I wish to sincerely say that I am sorry on behalf of the state of Togo, myself and past heads of state in our country,’ he said.He made the apology when he received the first part of a report by Togo’s Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission, charged with investigating political violence between 1958 and 2005.The Commission, composed of 11 religious and traditional leaders and university dons, was charged with investigating the political violence and to study ways for compensating victims.Anti-gay group in Liberia issues hit listMONROVIA – An anti-gay organisation in Liberia is distributing a hit list and threatening to target the seven people one by one.Fliers with the names of the seven were put up over the weekend and signed by a group calling itself the Movement Against Gay’s in Liberia, or MOGAL.It’s the latest development in an increasingly hostile national debate about gay rights that has dominated Liberia’s media for much of this year.Lawmakers in February introduced two new pieces of legislation that would make homosexuality punishable by possible jail time.