AFRICA

  Vatican City, Holy See | AFP | Pope Francis flies out on Wednesday for a week-long tour visiting three Indian Ocean African countries hard hit by poverty, conflict and natural disaster. The pope will visit Mozambique and Madagascar, as well as Mauritius, countries visited by pope John Paul II …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Earlier this year, hairdresser Mazen Kamal was stopped by paramilitary forces on a street in Khartoum for having long hair and was shaved on the spot. Now the barbershop he works in is seeing an influx of young men coming for modern hairstyles that would have …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | A Sudanese court on Saturday charged ousted president Omar al-Bashir, on trial for corruption, with illegal acquisition and use of foreign funds, offences which could put him behind bars for a decade. Judge Al-Sadiq Abdelrahman said at the third session of Bashir’s trial that foreign funds …

Mpondwe, Uganda | AFP |  Before dawn, Congolese teenager Doneka Kabowo sets off for school in Uganda, negotiating miles of jungle, the threat of armed militias and an international border to reach her classroom. Every weekday morning, yet another obstacle stands in the way of 15-year-old Kabowo and hundreds of other …

Beni, DR Congo | AFP |  The Ebola outbreak showed no signs of easing in DR Congo Friday on the eve of the UN chief’s visit to the country, with the death toll from the highly contagious virus crossing 2,000 and a new fatality in neighbouring Uganda. The latest casualty …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudan’s new premier on Wednesday delayed announcing his picks for the first cabinet since the ouster of veteran ruler Omar al-Bashir in order to continue mulling nominees, a source close to the prime minister said. Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who took the oath last week, was …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | AFP |  A “remarkably complete” 3.8-million-year-old skull of an early human has been unearthed in Ethiopia, scientists announced Wednesday, a discovery that has the potential to alter our understanding of human evolution. The skull, known as “MRD”, was discovered not far from the younger Lucy — the …

Wildlife protections tightened as southern Africa protests Geneva, Switzerland | AFP | A global wildlife summit has decided to regulate trade in giraffes and tighten protections for endangered animals including elephants, triggering a threat from disgruntled southern African nations to leave an international treaty. Parties to the Convention on International …

Mekele, Ethiopia | AFP |  Yonas Getu Molla started chewing khat as an architecture student, when he and his friends would munch on the leafy stimulant late into the night to help them study. When they closed their books, their heartbeats racing, they would seek out depressants like vodka and cannabis …

Khartoum, Sudan | AFP | Sudan is Wednesday due to announce the members of a new cabinet faced with a mountain of challenges after months of unrest, including rebuilding the economy and ending internal conflicts. Newly-appointed Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok will name his key picks from nominees put forward by the …