Tag Archives: Africa

Four people have died from Ebola in a new outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the country’s health ministry confirmed on Monday. It comes as Health Minister Eteni Longondo confirmed a new case of the deadly virus in the western province of Equateur, over 1,000km (620 miles) away from …

The al-Qaeda and Daesh terrorist groups have turned their guns on each other despite having previously cooperated in Africa’s Sahel region. Sporadic clashes between the two groups earlier this year have escalated into full-blown combat in countries such as Mali and Burkina Faso, AFP cited experts as saying in a …

The Nigerien Defense Ministry says army troops from the landlocked West African country and allied forces from neighboring states have killed 75 members of the Takfiri Boko Haram terrorist group during security operations earlier this week in the region, where the borders of Niger, Nigeria and Chad converge. The ministry …

The World Health Organization urged governments to support and invest in their nurses on International Nurses Day. Nearly a thousand health workers, mostly nurses, have contracted coronavirus in Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday, as the world marks International Nurses Day 2020. “Stakeholders must ensure that nurses …

UN chief Antonio Guterres condemned the attack and called on the perpetrators to be brought to justice. Three UN troops were killed and four more wounded when their convoy hit a roadside bomb early Sunday, officials said, in the latest violence to hit the war-torn West African state. UN chief …

A worker at a fish-processing factory in Ghana’s Atlantic seafront city of Tema infected 533 other workers at the facility with the coronavirus, Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo said in a broadcast late on Sunday. Health authorities reported the outbreak late on Friday but did not provide details. “All 533 persons …

Turkey has warned that it would deem the rebel forces of Libya’s renegade General Khalifa Haftar “legitimate targets” if they continue to attack Turkey’s interests and diplomatic missions in the violence-wracked North African country. “If our missions and our interests in Libya are targeted, we will deem Haftar’s forces legitimate …

Shelling of Tripoli’s Mitiga airport early on Saturday, part of an intensified barrage of artillery fire on the capital in recent days, hit fuel tanks and damaged passenger planes, the Transport Ministry said in a statement. Mitiga is the last functioning airport in the Libyan capital, though civilian flights stopped …

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Friday thousands of low-risk prisoners would be granted parole to help curb the spread of the coronavirus in correctional facilities. Around 19,000 people would be freed in response to a U.N. call on all countries to reduce their prison populations so that social …

Flooding as a result of recent heavy rains has killed more than 260 people across East Africa. Kenya has been the hardest hit with the government recording 194 deaths. In Rwanda, 55 people have died and floods have killed 16 in Somalia. In Uganda, high water levels have trapped an …

Floods and landslides caused by heavy rain in Kenya have killed nearly 200 people, displaced 100,000 and strained critical infrastructure, officials said on Wednesday. The heavy rain, which accelerated in mid-April, is expected to continue in already hard-hit areas in the coming weeks, the Kenya Meteorological Department said in its …

Sudan has appointed its first ambassador to the United States in over 25 years, amid warming ties between the two countries following the fall of president Omar al-Bashir in April last year. Sudan’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday that US authorities had approved the country’s pick of Noureldin Sati, a …

Nigeria began easing restrictions on Monday in its capital Abuja and in largest city Lagos, heralding the reopening of Africa’s biggest economy after more than four weeks of lockdowns imposed to contain the new coronavirus. The government has said a 24-hour, stay-at-home order in place since March 30 in Abuja …

Standing in front of a multi-story apartment building in the small Algerian town of Ouled Hedadj, clown Ninou and his partner shout advice through a megaphone: “Don’t go out, wash your hands!”

A plane carrying aid supplies for use in the fight against the coronavirus crashed in Somalia’s southern Bay region on Monday, killing seven people on board, a security official and the state-run news agency said. State-run Somalia News Agency said the plane belonged to African Express Airways and was ferrying …

World leaders, organizations and banks on Monday pledged 7.4 billion euros ($8 billion) for research to find a vaccine against the new coronavirus, but warned that it is just the start of an effort that must be sustained over time to beat the disease. The funds, pledged at a video-conference …

The government in Nigeria’s most populous state Kano has relaxed the total lockdown imposed to contain the spread of coronavirus beginning on Monday. Supermarkets and some fruit and vegetable markets are allowed to open from 10:00 to 16:00 on Mondays and Thursdays to allow people to buy food and other …

Scientists have discovered a microbe that completely protects mosquitoes from being infected with malaria. The team in Kenya and the UK say the finding has “enormous potential” to control the disease. Malaria is spread by the bite of infected mosquitoes, so protecting them could, in turn, protect people. The researchers …

Sudan has outlawed female genital mutilation (FGM), in a move that has been hailed by women’s rights campaigners. The country’s transitional government approved an amendment to its criminal legislation on 22 April and made it public on Friday. The new law states that anyone who performs FGM, whether inside a …

Somali militant group al-Shabab has executed three of its own members for alleged spying on behalf of Western intelligence agencies, local residents and regional officials said. El Bur district commissioner Colonel Nur Hassan Gutale says the three men were executed by a firing squad late Tuesday in the center of …