Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudanese protesters took to the streets of Khartoum Wednesday, angrily demanding justice for scores of pro-democracy demonstrators killed a year ago in a bloody crackdown. The popular mass movement had already brought down long-time ruler Omar al-Bashir but was still on the streets demanding further reforms …
Read More »How Rwanda genocide suspect spent 25 years on the run
Paris, France | AFP | When Rwandan genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga was arrested at his home on the outskirts of Paris in mid-May, it marked an abrupt end to a quarter of a century on the run. Without the coronavirus pandemic, which forced his children out of the shadows to help …
Read More »In DR Congo, denial becomes major obstacle for virus campaign
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | “Corona is a reality. Protect yourself and protect others,” Mamie Batata, a worker with the Catholic charity Caritas, warns through a megaphone as she proceeds through Kimbanseke, a rundown part of Kinshasa. The reactions are blunt. “Get out of here.” “Leave us in peace.” “The …
Read More »Algeria to release 2 protest leaders: opposition politician
Algiers, Algeria | AFP | Two main figures of Algeria’s “Hirak” protest movement will soon be freed at the president’s initiative, the leader of an opposition party said Tuesday. “President Abdelmadjid Tebboune assured me that he would use his constitutional prerogative to ensure that Karim Tabbou and Samir Benlarbi regain their …
Read More »Lawyers for Rwanda genocide suspect push for French trial
Paris, France | AFP | Lawyers for Rwandan genocide suspect Felicien Kabuga have called on UN prosecutors to end their international case and allow him to be tried in France where he was arrested. Described as Africa’s most wanted man, Kabuga is accused of financing the 1994 Rwanda genocide and was arrested at his home …
Read More »S.Africans rush to liquor stores as booze ban lifts
Soweto, South Africa | AFP | Scores of people lined up outside liquor stores in South Africa’s township of Soweto on Monday, waiting to stock up on drinks after a nine-week ban on alcohol sales as part of a strict coronavirus lockdown. Buying booze was prohibited when Africa’s most industrialised economy …
Read More »DR Congo reports fresh Ebola outbreak
Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | DR Congo on Monday reported a fresh Ebola outbreak in the country’s northwest, just weeks before it hoped to declare the end of another epidemic in the east. The appearance of the deadly disease on the other side of the vast central African country comes as an added blow …
Read More »Universities in Tanzania reopen despite virus concerns
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania | AFP | Universities in Tanzania reopened on Monday, despite a lack of clarity on the spread of coronavirus after the government decided to stop updating figures in April. As students entered dozens of campuses across Tanzania for the first time since mid-March, there were only cursory efforts to impose measures …
Read More »Zimbabwe summons US envoy over George Floyd comments
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Zimbabwe summoned its US ambassador on Monday over remarks by a senior American official accusing the southern African country of stirring anti-racism protests over the death of George Floyd, the government said. In a Sunday interview with ABC news, US national security advisor Robert O’Brien referred to Zimbabwe and China …
Read More »Two decades on, Zimbabwe takes stock of Mugabe land reform legacy
Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | Eighty-year-old Isobel Simons calmly narrated how she and her late husband lost their 728-hectare Zimbabwe farm two decades ago to Robert Mugabe’s controversial land reforms. Then she broke down and sobbed. “It was my home for 47 years,” she said. Her home is now a tiny …
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