In our series of letters from Africa, Nigerian novelist Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani visits an influential traditional ruler who often swaps his royal garb for boots and a hoe in a bid to encourage his subjects to take up farming. When the Emir of Keffi in Nasarawa state in north-central Nigeria died in 2015, his 52-year-old […]
A group of unemployed men attacked Malawian migrants living in the South African city of Durban at the end of March. It followed a recent spate of other incidents in the city during the month, prompting leaders from the three main parties to condemn attacks on foreign nationals. The upsurge in violence has become a […]
Thousands of demonstrators across Sudan have taken part in what appears to be the biggest series of rallies against President Omar al-Bashir since protests began in December. In Khartoum, demonstrators reached the army headquarters for the first time. The presidential compound is nearby. Security forces used tear gas and made several arrests. The rallies marks […]
ALGIERS (WASHINGTON POST) – Thousands of Algerians poured into the streets after Friday prayers demanding a transition toward democracy and the ouster of key allies of former president Abdelaziz Bouteflika who resigned this week after 20 years in power. The protests were the starkest indicator yet that Bouteflika’s ouster, at the insistence of the country’s […]
Tens of thousands of people have staged a protest in the Malian capital, Bamako, against rising ethnic and jihadist violence. The protest was called by Muslim leaders, groups representing ethnic Fulani herders and opposition parties. Last month more than 150 people were killed in an attack on a village in central Mali targeting the Fulani […]
Thousands have taken to the streets of the Algerian capital demanding a complete overhaul of the country’s political structure. This is the seventh successive week of Friday protests and Tuesday’s resignation of long-serving President Abdelaziz Bouteflika does not appear to have satisfied the demonstrators. According to the constitution, parliament’s speaker should take over. But protesters […]
Khalifa Haftar has been part of the Libyan political scene for more than four decades, shifting from the centre to the periphery and back again as his fortunes changed. Forces under his command have seized control of Libya’s main oil terminals, handing the key to the country’s crucial oil exports to his ally – the […]
Investigators have urged Boeing to review its flight control technology and said pilots of state carrier Ethiopian Airlines had carried out proper procedures in the first public findings on the crash of a 737 Max jet that killed 157 people. The doomed flight repeatedly nosedived as the pilots battled to control the nearly full aircraft […]
Libya has been beset by chaos since Nato-backed forces overthrew long-serving ruler Col Muammar Gaddafi in October 2011. Western powers are now becoming increasingly concerned that so-called Islamic State (IS) has built a presence in the North African state and the US has responded by launching air strikes on the militant group. How bad is […]
The pilots of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 were unable to regain control of their plane despite “repeated” attempts to follow Boeing procedures, an interim report has found. The Boeing 737 Max aircraft failed to gain altitude and nose-dived into the ground shortly after take off from Addis Ababa on 10 March, with the loss of […]