In the unbearable midday heat, a Libyan patrol near the border with Tunisia comes across a black African migrant who collapsed on the reddish-brown desert sand. He is barely breathing, and officers try to revive him gently with a few drops of water on his lips. The man is one among hundreds of migrants arriving […]

Senegalese people were left stunned on Tuesday 2 July 2023, a day after leading political opponent Ousmane Sonko was indicted on a fresh barrage of charges and his party dissolved, blighting his presidential plans. The firebrand politician — President Macky Sall’s fiercest critic, who is particularly popular among young people — has faced a string […]

Gunmen have shot dead 13 civilians in an attack on a remote village in troubled Central African Republic (CAR), local officials said on Tuesday. Around 20 rebels on Monday attacked Diki, near the Chadian border in the northwest of the country, according to regional prefect Jean Gilbert Gbangoudou. ALSO READ: Constitution change causes protests in Central […]

Police in Sierra Leone say they have arrested “several” people, possibly including soldiers, who were planning violent attacks on the anniversary of fatal riots last August that left more than 30 dead. ALSO READ: Sierra Leone president is sworn in as opposition rejects outcome “The security sector has been following intelligence regarding the activities of certain […]

Senegal on Monday 31 July 2023 announced that mobile data was being restricted due to “hateful and subversive” messages on social media, following calls for protests over the arrest Friday of opposition politician Ousmane Sonko. The public prosecutor on Saturday announced seven new charges, including calling for insurrection, against Sonko, a presidential candidate and fierce […]

Nigeria’s president announced measures to tackle the soaring cost of living on Monday 31 July 2023, including the release of 200,000 tonnes of reserve grain after food store looting in the country’s northeast. Since coming to power in May, President Bola Tinubu has made a series of decisions designed to boost long-term investment — but […]

Bursts of gunfire were heard early Tuesday 1st August 2023 in the centre of the Burkina Faso capital Ouagadougou near an airbase, an AFP journalist said. The shots were heard from around 12:45 am (0045 GMT) in the heart of the city before ceasing about 40 minutes later. “It’s an unfortunate incident limited to the air base,” […]

Thousands of Ugandans on Monday 31 July 2023 thronged the palace grounds of the country’s largest kingdom Buganda, defying rain as they danced and ululated to mark 30 years since the coronation of King Ronald Muwenda Mutebi II. ALSO READ: Ruto insists on not discussing country’s safety with opposition Dressed in traditional attire — with […]

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Sunday 30 July 2023 called on Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas to end “security collaboration” with Israel and “political arrests”, according to participants at a meeting of Palestinian factions in Egypt. Haniyeh, whose Islamist movement has controlled the blockaded Gaza Strip since 2007, made the remarks during the talks in the […]

Firebrand Senegalese opposition politician Ousmane Sonko said Sunday 30 July 2023 he had started a hunger strike from custody after being arrested this week, as his lawyers condemned his arrest. Senegal’s public prosecutor on Saturday announced seven new charges against the politician — a vocal critic of President Macky Sall who has faced a string […]

Sudan’s paramilitaries have ordered civilians to vacate homes in the capital’s south, several residents said Sunday, as fighting between the forces of rival generals raged in the western Darfur region. ALSO READ: RSF envoy urges peace in Sudan and Darfur “Members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) told me I had 24 hours to leave […]

Authorities in Nigeria’s northeastern Adamawa state on Sunday imposed a statewide round-the-clock curfew to stop widespread looting of food stores in the state capital Yola. ALSO READ: NEW RECORD: Nigerian boy eats most watermelon in 30 seconds [Video] The looting saw hundreds of residents break into public and private warehouses storing grains and other commodities and […]

Kenyan President William Ruto said Sunday 30 July 2023 he would “not negotiate about the safety of our country” with his rival after agreeing to dialogue to end violent protests against his government. Both sides announced on Saturday that they would join a committee to resolve their differences “amicably” following a sustained campaign of opposition-led […]

Niger’s putschists named an army general as the new leader of the unstable jihadist-hit nation on Friday, the third day since elected President Mohamed Bazoum was detained. Former colonial master France said hours earlier that it did not consider the coup “final”, adding there was time for plotters to heed international calls to leave democratically-elected […]

Zimbabwe’s leading opposition party on Thursday 27 July 2023 suffered a major blow ahead of national elections next month as a court disqualified all its candidates vying for seats in the nation’s second-largest city. The decision paves the way for the ruling ZANU-PF party to scoop up Bulawayo’s 12 constituencies in the August 23 vote, […]

Vladimir Putin gifted the president of Zimbabwe a helicopter, Harare said on Thursday 27 july 2023, as the Russian leader courts the backing of African leaders in Saint Petersburg. Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa is among those attending a two-day Russia-Africa summit that is being scrutinised as a test of Putin’s support in the continent after […]

Algerians in the fire-ravaged northeast were Thursday 27 July 2023 counting the cost of the wildfires that killed 34 people, destroyed homes and reduced vast forest areas to scorched wastelands. The wildfires raged for days, mainly through the mountain forests of the Kabylia region on the Mediterranean coast, fanned by winds during the blistering summer […]

Rockets pummelled the Sudanese capital on Thursday 27 July 2023, witnesses said, as paramilitaries attacked a key air force base north of Khartoum and claimed to have killed and wounded “dozens” of soldiers. Residents reported “heavy artillery shelling” and fighter jets overhead the northwest of the city, while drones belonging to the paramilitary Rapid Support […]

Scenes of looting, closed stores, blocked roads — the demonstrations organised by Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga since March threaten to make the East African nation’s already fragile economic situation even worse. Odinga’s Azimio coalition blames the government for a cost-of-living crisis and accuses it of adding to Kenyans’ misery by introducing hefty new taxes […]

Suspected Islamic State-affiliated jihadists have killed 32 people, including 25 herders, in two attacks in northeast Nigeria’s Borno state, anti-jihadist militia told AFP Thursday 27 July 2023. The attacks happened on Tuesday in the Lake Chad area, where the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) controls swathes of territory. In the first attack, ISWAP fighters riding in […]

African migrants pleaded to be saved from a desert zone between Libya and Tunisia on Wednesday 26 July 2023, weeks after Tunisian authorities allegedly dumped dozens of them there with nothing. “We are dying. We are dying by the minute,” a Nigerian who wanted to be identified only by his first name, George, told AFP. “Please, […]

Here are five things to know about Niger, where the country’s president was being detained by guards in what the African Union on Wednesday 27 July 2023 condemned as an “attempted coup”. Niger, a vast West African country that is two-thirds desert, is one of the world’s poorest nations. Half of its 26.2 million people […]

Barbie dolls are flying off the shelves in South Africa as “Barbie” movie mania has hit the country’s shores, with toy stores seeing a cotton candy-hued boom in sales. The iconic toy, known for its blonde mane, blue eyes, and pink clothing, has been a household name in the southern African nation for decades — but […]

Rwanda considers Belgium’s refusal to approve the appointment of its ambassador as “unfortunate”, a government spokesman said Wednesday 26 July 2023, adding that the move “does not bode well” for bilateral relations. Vincent Karega, Rwanda’s former ambassador to South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) — from where he was expelled last October […]

Sadly, Zanzibar’s ancient Mkumbuu ruins will face sea invasion if nothing is done to protect them from rising sea levels. MKUMBUU RUINS The Mkumbuu Ruins are located in the South Pemba Region. They lie at the end of a long narrow peninsula known as Ras Mkumbuu. The ruins mainly date from the 9th century CE and were […]