Tag Archives: Africa

Guinea-Bissau’s Prime Minister Nuno Gomes Nabiam has tested positive for the novel coronavirus alongside three members of his cabinet, the health ministry said on Wednesday. Nabiam, Interior Minister Botche Cande, and two other ministers were diagnosed on Tuesday and have been quarantined at a hotel in the capital Bissau, Health …

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ordered a three-month renewal for the long-running state of emergency in the country on Tuesday, citing health and security concerns. Egypt has been under a state of emergency since April 2017, when twin church bombings claimed by an Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) affiliate group …

The Pentagon has acknowledged for the first time that at least two civilians were killed and three were injured in US airstrikes early last year in Somalia, where rights groups have accused the US military of shrouding its operations in secrecy. The announcement, by the US Africa Command (AFRICOM), was …

Nineteen people have been killed in a militia attack on a village in the northeastern province of Ituri in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, actuality.cd reported, citing a representative of a local civilian community. “At the moment, we have 19 dead compatriots. Many were injured and are being sent …

South Africa’s president has announced an easing of some lockdown restrictions – to begin next month. But Cyril Ramaphosa warned that most people should remain at home and also urged people to wear masks when outside. Yet at the end of his speech, he struggled while demonstrating how to put …

African nations that lack ventilators to treat COVID-19 patients will receive some from the Jack Ma Foundation, an African Union official said on Thursday, as Nigeria stressed Africa’s dependence on a properly-funded World Health Organization (WHO)to help it fight the pandemic. Africa’s 54 countries have so far reported fewer than …

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that there were “worrying upward trends” in early epidemics in parts of Africa and Central and South America, while also warning that opening up global travel needed to be managed carefully. “Most countries are still in the early stages of their epidemics …

Militants have killed 52 villagers in northern Mozambique who refused to be recruited to their ranks. The massacre took place on April 7 in the village of Xitaxi in the Muidumbe district of Cabo Delgado Province, home to multi-billion-dollar gas projects led by foreign companies such as Total. “The young …

Polling stations open for the second round of legislative elections in Mali, which are being held despite coronavirus and terrorist violence. Polling staff ensures that all sanitary measures are taken to prevent the spread of the virus, although crowds were observed inside the polling stations.

The Great Pyramids is lit up with blue light and projected with a laser message “Stay Home” on the Giza plateau outside the Egyptian capital of Cairo on the World Heritage Day, as the country fights against the spread of the COVID-19.

Nigeria’s Rivers State has freed 22 Exxon Mobil Corp. employees quarantined last week after their arrest for violating an order restricting movement into the state to curb the spread of the coronavirus, the state government said on Sunday. Port Harcourt, the capital of the southern state, is the hub of …

At least five women and children died on Saturday in a stampede when cash and clothes were handed out to thousands of displaced people in northeastern Nigeria, militia and local people told AFP. A large crowd surged forward for the government aid distribution and people were trampled underfoot in the …

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 …

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 …