Africa

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 …

A French Foreign Legion soldier was killed in combat in Mali, the Élysée presidential palace announced in a press release on Monday. First Class Legionnaire Kévin Clement was killed in action on Monday during an operation against armed terrorist groups in Mali, the French presidential office said. Clement’s death came …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Human Rights Watch has urged the Egyptian authorities to release two translators, women who were arbitrarily arrested and “forcibly disappeared” last week. According to the HRW, security forces arrested Marwa Arafa, 27, and Kholoud Said, 35, at their homes on April 20 and 21, respectively. They are held in undisclosed …

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 …

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 …

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 …