May 30 (Reuters) - World Cup hosts Russia continued their miserable run when they slipped to a 1-0 defeat in Austria on Wednesday and Japan suffered a blow when they lost 2-0 at home Ghana in coach Akira Nishino's first game in charge.

ACCRA, May 30 (Reuters) - Gold mining giants in Ghana such as Newmont, Gold Fields and AngloGold Ashanti welcome new government tests to certify the value of their exports, the main industry association said on Wednesday.

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Wildlife troopers shot dead three armed men in Kenya's Mount Elgon National Park on Wednesday while two other suspected poachers were injured but escaped, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) said.

TOKYO, May 30 (Reuters) - New Japan manager Akira Nishino deployed a new formation but endured a disappointing first match in charge with a 2-0 defeat by Ghana as his side prepared for the World Cup at a rain-drenched Yokohama Stadium on Wednesday.

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia's ruling coalition started talks with opposition groups on Wednesday on amending provisions of an anti-terrorism law that critics say has criminalised dissent, state-affiliated media said.

DAKAR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Dozens of Africans say they were sold for labour and trapped in slavery in Algeria in what aid agencies fear may be a widening trend of abusing migrants headed for a new life in Europe.

NAIROBI (Reuters) - A new cybercrime law came into force in Kenya on Wednesday, but without a ban on "false" information, after bloggers and journalists won a court order blocking rules they said could curtail free expression.

TOKYO, May 30 (Reuters) - New Japan manager Akira Nishino deployed a new formation but endured a disappointing first match in charge with a 2-0 defeat by Ghana as his side prepared for the World Cup at a rain-drenched Yokohama Stadium on Wednesday.

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe will hold its general elections on July 30, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said on Wednesday, the first since the army forced 94-year-old former president Robert Mugabe to resign last November.

TUNIS (Reuters) - Tunisian Prime Minister Youssef Chahed said on Tuesday that the president's son had destroyed the ruling Nidaa Tounes party and that the crisis in the party has affected state institutions.

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya's public prosecutor said on Wednesday 24 civil servants and business people charged a day earlier with involvement in the theft of nearly $100 million of public funds would stay in custody until June 4, when they will have a bail hearing.

BAMAKO (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to donors on Tuesday to provide more predictable support to the G5 Sahel force fighting to contain West African jihadists.

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's wildlife agency said on Tuesday it was investigating allegations that a South African national bribed officials to allow a Colorado-based tourist to take the ivory tusks of an elephant illegally shot in a Zimbabwe game park.

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan authorities brought 24 civil servants and business people to court in handcuffs on Tuesday to hear charges against them amid an investigation into the theft of nearly $100 million of public funds.

KINSHASA (Reuters) - From the sprawling capital Kinshasa to villages deep in the equatorial forests, Congo's ruling PPRD is in full-on election campaign mode - and President Joseph Kabila's face is everywhere.