Crime and violence are at crisis levels in Kenya in the build-up to elections as gangs terrorise the population and "trigger-happy" police respond with impunity, human rights groups said on Wednesday. The Kenya Human Rights Network said 300 criminals, police officers, victims of land clashes and suspected members of a banned sect were killed in the last six months.

More than a million snorting wildebeest may not need the plug, but a media endorsement of their annual migration is raising fears of a tourist stampede to the Maasai Mara game reserve. Conservationists and some camp owners fear it may aggravate overcrowding and overzealous development.

Kenya's game parks usually teem with camera-toting tourists at this time of year. Now they are all but empty after images of deadly clashes that rocked the country were beamed around the world. Operators say pictures of machete-wielding youths battling riot police have sent some tourists packing and others delaying trips or scrapping planned visits outright.

Africa must make higher health spending a priority if it is to stop rich nations poaching medical staff and cut deaths from the continent's five biggest killers, an African health campaign group said. Tuberculosis, HIV/Aids, malaria, child and maternal mortality kill about eight million Africans every year, more than the combined populations of Sierra Leone and Botswana.

Tokyo Sexwale's Batho Bonke Capital has sold its stake in SA's biggest retail bank, exiting one of the post-apartheid era's highest profile BEE deals.

The new co-heads of Standard Bank has promised to sharpen the African focus following chief executive Jacko Maree's resignation announcement.

Crime and violence are at crisis levels in Kenya in the build-up to elections as gangs terrorise the population and "trigger-happy" police respond with impunity, human rights groups said on Wednesday. The Kenya Human Rights Network said 300 criminals, police officers, victims of land clashes and suspected members of a banned sect were killed in the last six months.

More than a million snorting wildebeest may not need the plug, but a media endorsement of their annual migration is raising fears of a tourist stampede to the Maasai Mara game reserve. Conservationists and some camp owners fear it may aggravate overcrowding and overzealous development.