NEWS FROM AFRICA - OFFERED WITHOUT COMMENT

BBC:

Kenya's newly refurbished parliament, which has been dogged by criticism over the cost of chairs for MPs, has been opened by President Mwai Kibaki. Costing about $3,000 (£1,900) each, the 350 red chairs were made by the country's prisons department. The original tender was given to a company outside the country but was cancelled when some MPs discovered that each chair would cost $5,000. Officials say the $12m renovation brings parliament into the digital age. 

"The changes we are making are going to input positively in governance," parliamentary speaker Kenneth Marende told the BBC.

ALSO BBC: 

At least 19 people have been killed in a gun attack on a church in central Nigeria, officials say. Gunmen stormed the church near the city of Okene in Kogi state and fired on worshippers, they say. 

The pastor was among those killed when the assailants fired Kalashnikov assault rifles, the officials add. It is not clear who carried out the attack but militant Islamist group Boko Haram has carried out numerous raids on churches and other targets in Nigeria.