Africa

A court in Egypt has added a former lawmaker and a dozen others, all either members or associates of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood movement, to terrorist lists for five years. The Fifth Terrorism Judicial District in the capital Cairo announced the news in a statement on Saturday, saying former legislator …

The COVID-19 pandemic will likely kill at least 300,000 Africans and risks pushing 29 million into extreme poverty, the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) said on Friday, calling for a $100 billion safety net for the continent. Africa’s 54 countries have so far reported fewer than 20,000 confirmed cases …

Nigerian security agents have killed 18 people in their enforcement of measures to curb coronavirus, a figure higher than the documented toll inflicted by the disease, the country’s human rights body said. Africa’s most populous nation has imposed a total lockdown in megacity Lagos and the capital Abuja and set …

Swarms of desert locusts have been flooding parts of East Africa since last summer, threatening a fragile food security situation in the region, as one swarm can consume the same amount of crops per day as 10,000 people. Two new generations of locusts are expected to infest East Africa by …

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has condemned controversial comments made by French doctors about testing a COVID-19 potential treatment first in Africa, calling the remarks a “hangover from a colonial mentality.” “To be honest, I was so appalled. And it was a time when I said when we …

A police robot has been deployed to patrol areas of Tunisia’s capital, Tunis, to ensure that people are observing a coronavirus lockdown. If it spies anyone walking in the largely deserted streets, it approaches them and asks why they are out. They must then show their ID and other papers …

Five Rwandan soldiers have been arrested after residents of a slum in the capital, Kigali, alleged that they raped women as they enforced a nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the army has said. Residents of Nyarutarama have been telling the military prosecution office that the soldiers also …

Kenya confirmed its first coronavirus death on Thursday, government spokesman Cyrus Oguna said, without providing further details. Earlier on Thursday, the ministry of health reported three more cases of coronavirus, bringing the total number of infected people in the East African country to 31.

Mali’s main opposition leader “Soumaila Cisse” is being held hostage with six members of his delegation, his party said on Thursday after they were attacked on the campaign trail in a region where jihadists often strike. Cisse’s bodyguard was killed and two others wounded when unidentified gunmen ambushed the group …

Egypt began deep cleaning the area around the Giza pyramids on Wednesday as authorities work to disinfect tourist spots closed down by the coronavirus outbreak. Workers wearing face masks and gloves swept and sprayed the walkways around the bases of the pyramids, as well as the ticket office and a …

Boko Haram terrorists killed at least 50 Nigerian soldiers in an ambush near Goneri village in northern Yobe state, according to military officials. The attack, one of the deadliest against troops recently, came as the military tried to launch an offensive against the militants that began over the weekend, according …

Sixty-four migrants from Ethiopia were found dead on Tuesday, crammed inside a freight container in the northwestern Mozambican province of Tete, a senior hospital official said. The victims were discovered in a blue cargo container loaded on a truck. They were surrounded by survivors. Temperatures in Tete currently hover around …

Health officials in Nigeria have issued a warning over chloroquine after they said three people in the country overdosed on the drug, in the wake of President Trump’s comments about using it to treat coronavirus. A Lagos state official said that three people were hospitalized in the city after taking …

Algeria will suspend all sea and air travel between it and Europe from Thursday over the coronavirus, Prime Minister Abdelaziz Djerad said in a statement. Algeria said on Sunday it would suspend all travel to and from France starting on Tuesday, adding that Air Algerie would arrange emergency flights to …

Two rare white giraffes, a female, and her calf were killed by poachers in Kenya, officials have said, illustrating the challenges of wildlife conservation and the persistent and devastating impact of poaching in the East African nation. The deaths of the giraffes left just one of the unusually colored animals …

A policeman has been killed and several others have been wounded in an explosion outside the United States Embassy in the Tunisian capital, Tunis. Tunisia’s Interior Ministry said two assailants on a motorbike blew themselves up outside the embassy in the Lac district on Friday, adding that that attack also …

Iraq Iraq detected two new coronavirus patients, both of whom had recently visited Iran, the Health Ministry said on Monday, bringing the total cases recorded so far to 21. The two new cases were detected in Baghdad and had recently returned from Iran, the ministry said in a statement. The …

Gunmen have killed 24 people and wounded 18 in an assault on a village church in northern Burkina Faso, officials say. The regional governor said on Monday that the local pastor was targeted in the attack. A group of “armed terrorists” burst into the village of Pansi, in Yagha, a …

Ethiopia’s election board on Friday set a date of Aug. 29 for parliamentary elections that will be the first test of voter support for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who has eased political restrictions since he took office in 2018. The date is two weeks later than the electoral board had …

Scientists have found evidence of a “ghost population” that lived in Africa around 500,000 years ago and are genetically linked to modern-day humans. The existence of the mysterious ancestor was uncovered by researchers who were studying the genes of four West African populations. Up to 19 percent of human’s genetic …