Burundi

Burundian gendarmes on Tuesday arrested the leaders of the two main teachers’ unions in the country after they held a meeting with striking teachers in the capital, Bujumbura, to evaluate the stoppage that began countrywide on January 5. The strike has put at least one million children out of school countrywide.

At 24, a single mother, Marie — not her real name — could have expected a better deal in life. But she was given no choice: while working as a housemaid in Kinindo, a residential suburb of the capital, Bujumbura, Marie was raped and subsequently found herself pregnant. Marie would not have dreamed of seeking an abortion, not least because it is prohibited here.

Representatives of the Batwa or pygmy people from four countries in the Great Lakes region of Africa have asked their governments to urgently seek ways of guaranteeing their people’s greater access to land and education. Participants in the Bujumbura conference are drawn from Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda.

Two members of Burundi’s largest former rebel movement, who were recently appointed ministers, arrived on Sunday in the capital, Bujumbura, after several years in exile. ”This is an indication that peace is coming in Burundi,” they told reporters in Bujumbura.

Burundian President Domitien Ndayizeye reshuffled his Cabinet on Sunday to incorporate the country’s largest rebel faction, the Conseil National pour la Defense de la Democratie-Forces Nationales pour la Defense de la Democratie, led by Pierre Nkurunziza. Ndayizeye named Nkurunziza as Minister of State for Good Governance.

Four civilians and four soldiers have been killed during an overnight clash in central Burundi blamed on Hutu rebels. The unrest is the first blamed on Forces for the Defence of Democracy rebels since its leader and Burundi President Domitien Ndayizeye agreed to a ceasefire on Tuesday in South Africa.

The government imposed a nationwide curfew on Thursday as fighting between Hutu rebels and the Tutsi-dominated army continued in the central African nation’s capital for the fourth day.

South Africa has agreed to extend the deployment of its protection force in Burundi by six months, a representative for the South Africa National Defence Force (SANDF) said on Saturday.

Police launched a grenade and fired shots into a crowd celebrating Italy’s victory in the World Cup, killing three people and wounding 17, officials said on Monday. Police were investigating Sunday’s shooting, Colonel Pierre-Claver Gahungu said. ”We will let you know when we have investigation results,” he said.