Cairo, Egypt | THE INDEPENDENT | Africa soccer governing body CAF will distribute $200,000 to each of its members to support the management of football at the domestic levels hugely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. At its meeting on Thursday via video-conference, the CAF Emergency Committee has approved the immediate distribution …
Read More »Burundi opposition takes poll dispute to constitutional court
Bujumbura, Burundi | AFP | Burundi’s main opposition party on Thursday filed its submission to the Constitutional Court to contest the results of a presidential election it alleges was riddled with fraud and irregularities. On Monday the electoral commission announced that ruling party candidate Evariste Ndayishimiye had won the vote with …
Read More »Without tourists, S.African farmers cull antelope to feed community
Northern South Africa, South Africa | AFP | The charity pick-up truck rolled into a rural South African township laden with the usual boxes of bread loaves and assorted vegetables — and an unusual and especially prized gift: more than 50 kilogrammes (110 pounds) of fresh venison. The antelope had been …
Read More »Mozambique state calls for ‘conviction’ of police officers in poll observer murder
Xai-Xai, Mozambique | AFP | Mozambique’s public prosecutor on Thursday called for an “exemplary conviction” of six elite officers accused of murdering a poll observer ahead of national elections last year, but denied any state involvement in the killing. Prosecutor Leonardo Cumbe’s remarks marked the end of a trial in the …
Read More »Bill Gates conspiracy theories echo through Africa
Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | As the novel coronavirus wreaks global havoc, Bill Gates is the new bete noire for conspiracy theorists worldwide including in Africa where a Kenyan politician’s false online post has added major fuel to the spread of misinformation. While Gates’s vaccine programmes on the continent have …
Read More »Ethiopia unlocks one of the world’s last closed telecoms markets
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP | For delivery man Sisay Alebachew, the difference between a good and bad day depends on Ethio Telecom, Ethiopia’s monopoly telecoms provider. When the internet is down or too slow to use, customers struggle to place orders on the website of Deliver Addis, Sisay’s e-commerce employer, …
Read More »World leaders urge governments on COVID-19, stimulating economies
Kampala, Uganda | Julius Businge | Top world leaders in government and private sector want tangible solutions to heal world economies that have been hit by coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). They were speaking during celebrations for Africa Day 2020 facilitated by United Bank for Africa (UBA). The event was screened live across …
Read More »Three jailed Omar Bashir aides have virus
Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudanese authorities said Wednesday that three former senior aides to ousted president Omar al-Bashir have caught the novel coronavirus in prison. Former officials Ali Othman Taha, Ahmed Mohamed Haroun and Abdulreheem Mohamed Hussein have been held in Khartoum’s Kober prison since Bashir’s military ouster in …
Read More »Scientists unravel secrets from the faults in our genes
Tokyo, Japan | AFP | Imagine the body’s instruction manual, the genome: here words are genes, letters are DNA, and the equivalent of typos can have disastrous consequences. In recent years, scientists have grown increasingly fluent in the language of genome, but much remains mysterious, including the function of many of …
Read More »African Development Bank chief hits back over graft accusations
Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | The president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwumi Adesina, hit back on Wednesday at accusations of corruption and vowed to continue working. In a press statement, Adesina slammed “unprecedented attempts by some to tarnish my reputation” and declared “I will… continue to work with …
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