AFRICA

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | A South African court has fined a self-styled prophet who sprayed his followers in the face with insecticide as a supposed cure for illness. Pastor Lethebo Rabalago was found guilty by a court in the northwest town of Limpopo of five charges of grievous assault …

Bamako, Mali | AFP | Four UN peacekeepers were killed on Wednesday when a mine exploded under their vehicle in central Mali in a deliberate attack, capping a bloody week for civilians and security forces in the West African nation. Jihadists have ramped up their activities in central Mali in recent …

Bangui, Central African Republic | AFP | Unknown attackers have killed six humanitarian workers including one from the United Nations children’s fund UNICEF in the northwest of the Central African Republic, the UN said Wednesday. The world body’s Minusca mission “condemned the attack which led to the death of the …

The continent’s democracies badly need a new generation of leaders, but where are they to be found? COMMENT | STEPHEN CHAN | In every single African country, young people make up the majority of the population and they are generally very ill served by their ageing governments. Young leaders, where they …

Nouakchott, Mauritania | AFP | Recep Tayyip Erdogan landed in Mauritania on Wednesday flanked by businessmen and primed to sign several cooperation deals in the first visit by a Turkish president to Nouakchott. He is undertaking a four-nation African tour to ramp up Turkey’s growing influence throughout the continent, where it …

Abuja, Nigeria | AFP | It sounds like something from Wakanda, the futuristic African kingdom of the hit movie “Black Panther”. But “Transaqua” is a very real proposal for a very real problem — how to replenish the shrinking waters of Lake Chad. It imagines a 2,600-km (1,600-mile) canal from …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | Nigeria is suffering its worst outbreak of Lassa fever, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday, as local health officials said 72 people had died since the start of this year. “Nigeria’s Lassa fever outbreak has reached record highs, with 317 laboratory confirmed cases,” …

Lagos, Nigeria | AFP | At least 13 people have been killed in clashes between Christian and Muslim youths in central Nigeria, police said on Wednesday, in the latest violence to hit the region. Fighting broke out on Monday in Kasuwan Magani community in Kaduna state, about 45 kilometres (28 miles) …

The new leader; Ramaphosa will need to urgently attend to them if the country is to chart a new course COMMENT | FRED PHASWANA | Jacob Zuma resigned as South Africa’s president – an inevitable move, following the African National Congress’ withdrawal of its support. Two decades after Nelson Mandela tried …

United Nations, United States | AFP | Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila has agreed to a request from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to visit his country ahead of elections later this year, the UN spokesman said Tuesday. Guterres wrote to Kabila to propose a joint visit with African …