Port Louis, Mauritius | AFP | A new generation of 30-somethings with brilliant careers, feminist convictions and, above all, confidence, are spearheading an assault on African media, using social networks as a launchpad. “I do not understand what ‘no’ means,” Peace Hyde, one of the most high-profile members of this …
Read More »At least 27 dead as Kenya dam bursts after torrential rains
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | At least 27 people died after a dam burst in southern Kenya, sweeping away their homes while many of them were asleep, police said Thursday. After a severe drought, weeks of torrential rains in Kenya have led to flooding and mudslides that have left 159 …
Read More »Dhlakama: Mozambique rebel leader turned politician
Beira, Mozambique | AFP | Afonso Dhlakama lived in a secret location and led armed fighters against the Mozambique government — but on Wednesday he was given an official memorial service and praised by the president. He died of a suspected heart attack last week among his Renamo troops in …
Read More »Tackle Lake Chad environment to stop Boko Haram: experts
Maiduguri, Nigeria | AFP | Revitalising Lake Chad will stop Boko Haram from gaining a long-term foothold in the region, experts said on Wednesday, as four countries wrapped up talks aimed at ending in the conflict. The insurgency began in 2009 and has killed at least 20,000 in northeast Nigeria …
Read More »Four Ghana judges suspended in bribery scandal: presidency
Accra, Ghana | AFP | Four judges accused of taking bribes in Ghana have been suspended, the presidency announced Wednesday, in the latest fallout from a graft scandal rocking the country’s judiciary. President Nana Akufo-Addo suspended the high court judges after a disciplinary committee launched a case against them. The …
Read More »Benin opposition politician goes to African court
Cotonou, Benin | AFP | Benin opposition politician Sebastien Ajavon on Wednesday took the country’s government to court, demanding nearly $990 million in damages after a string of arrests and prosecutions. One of the failed presidential candidate’s four lawyers, Julien Bensimhon, told the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights …
Read More »Nigeria says will prevent Ebola spread from DR Congo
Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | The Nigerian government on Wednesday said it was acting to prevent the spread of Ebola from Democratic Republic of Congo where an outbreak of the disease has killed 17 people. The federal government had put in place an emergency programme to monitor all border activity …
Read More »Somalia’s Shabaab stone woman to death for marrying 11 men
Mogadishu, Somalia | AFP | Shabaab militants stoned a Somali woman to death on Wednesday after an Islamic court sentenced her to the punishment for having married 11 men, the Al-Qaeda-linked group and witnesses said. According to witnesses the woman was publicly executed in the Sablaale district of the lower …
Read More »Buhari too ‘unwell’ to govern: Nigerian opposition
Buhari Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria’s main opposition party has said President Muhammadu Buhari is unfit to run the country after he again left for London on medical grounds. The 75-year-old former military ruler last year spent five months in London seeking treatment for an undisclosed illness that he …
Read More »Boko Haram will take years to ‘eliminate’: UN envoy
Maiduguri, Nigeria | AFP | Despite military successes scored against Boko Haram jihadists, it will take years to “completely eliminate” the group, a United Nations envoy told AFP Tuesday. “Boko Haram has proven to be a resilient group…I think it will take time to totally eliminate,” said Muhammad Ibn Chambas, special …
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