AFRICA

Paris, France | AFP | The world is failing to protect children from the health dangers posed by climate change and poor diet, a landmark UN report said Wednesday, warning that every child is under “immediate threat”. According to more than 40 of the world’s pre-eminent child and adolescent health experts, …

Niamey, Niger | AFP |  Fifteen women and five children were trampled to death on Monday in a stampede for food and money for refugees in southeast Niger, a regional governor said. The accident occurred at a youth and culture centre in Diffa, the main town of a region of the …

AIT-BEN-HADDOU, Morocco | AFP |  Millions worldwide may have seen the desert fortress in the hit fantasy series “Game of Thrones”, but fewer know they can visit the Moroccan village of Ait-Ben-Haddou. The fortified old settlement at the foot of the majestic Atlas mountains enchanted audiences in the HBO series and …

Kampala, Uganda | AFP | Ugandan university student Linette Kirungi was on her way to class when she heard footsteps behind her. The next thing she felt was liquid on her face — then burning agony. She had just turned down a marriage proposal from her ex-boyfriend. He responded by throwing …

Dakar, Senegal | AFP |  Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday that the United States favoured a “collective” approach with its allies when deciding on troop numbers deployed in Africa against jihadist insurgents. “We’ll get it right, we’ll get it right collectively, I’m convinced of that,” Pompeo told reporters …

Juba, South Sudan | AFP |  South Sudan rebels rejected on Sunday a peace offer by President Salva Kiir to return to a system of 10 states, paving the way for a unity government. The rejection by rebel chief Riek Machar dashes hopes of breaking a deadlock and ending a six-year …

Cape Town, South Africa | AFP |  South Africa’s announcement that it will open up electricity generation to other players, effectively breaking Eskom’s monopoly, has been welcomed by many, especially the mining industry, a key sector in Africa’s most industrialised economy. President Cyril Ramaphosa in his annual state of the nation …

Windhoek, Namibia | AFP |  Namibia should by rights feel little concern about the coronavirus outbreak given that the sparsely-populated desert country is 12,000 kilometres from China and without a single confirmed case. But like many countries on the continent, the southern African nation hosts a big Chinese retail business community …

Bamako, Mali | AFP |  Forty people, including nine soldiers, have been killed in a spate of attacks in central Mali, authorities said Friday, with most of the deaths caused by inter-ethnic violence in the deeply troubled region. Thirty-one people were killed in an attack overnight in Ogossagou, a village mainly …

Juba, South Sudan | AFP |  South Sudan’s president said on Saturday he would return to a system of 10 states, a key opposition demand, paving the way for a unity government and an end to the country’s civil war. “The compromise we have just made is in the interest …