Kenya: Main Opposition Leader Quits Election Re-run

The president of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, has said the re-run of the presidential election will go ahead as planned later this month, despite the decision of his main rival not to contest the ballot.

The Spanish government has dismissed an offer of talks over Catalan independence. Earlier, the regional president of Catalonia had suspended plans to secede to allow for negotiations to end the crisis.

And in Madagascar, a thousand people are being trained by the Red Cross to help deal with the spread of bubonic and pulmonary plagues across the island nation.