After spate of violence, prime minister calls on Ethiopians to resist ‘forces’ threatening to impede progress. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has said the death toll from protests last month stood at 86, calling on citizens to resist “forces” threatening to impede progress in the country Rallies against Abiy, this year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate, […]
Pirates have kidnapped nine crew members from a Norwegian shipping vessel off the coast of Benin in West Africa. The vessel was carrying gypsum, a mineral used as a fertiliser, and was at anchor, owner J.J. Ugland said. The Gulf of Guinea is world’s most dangerous piracy hotspot, says the International Maritime Bureau (IMB). Some […]
Across South Africa, they’ve been blowing their vuvuzelas, hugging, crying, grinning until it hurts, honking their car horns, pouring and throwing and spraying beer in all directions. They are celebrating a comprehensive victory that seems all the sweeter for being set against a backdrop of economic hardship, rising inequality, populist race-baiting, staggering official corruption and […]
Kenya’s rapidly growing capital city is facing severe problems with the supply and quality of its water supply, driving people to buy it from unsafe and potentially contaminated sources. So, how bad is the water problem facing Nairobi and how does it compare with other major cities in Africa? Nahason Muguna, the head of the […]
Nigeria, one of Africa’s superpowers, closed all its land borders two months ago to tackle smuggling – but the unprecedented move is affecting trade across the region. Bustling borders have come to a standstill, with goods rotting and queues of lorries waiting at checkpoints in the hope the crossings will reopen. The closures were imposed […]
UN migration agency suspends some Ebola checks at South Sudan border points with Uganda, DR Congo. The UN migration agency (IOM) has suspended Ebola screenings at five border points between South Sudan, Uganda and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), after three of its aid workers were killed during clashes in South Sudan. “The IOM volunteers, […]
At least 37 people have died and others are feared trapped underground in a landslide on Monday in the west of Cameroon, officials say. Rescuers in the town of Bafoussam have been looking for survivors in the remains of houses flattened by earth dislodged after heavy rainfall. Regional governor Fonka Awa Augustine said people had […]
DOUALA (REUTERS) – Rescue teams in Cameroon were scouring the rubble of destroyed houses for survivors on Tuesday (Oct 29) after a landslide caused by heavy rainfall killed at least 22 people, state television reported. The police were searching for dozens more people reported as missing in the town of Bafoussam in the western highlands, […]
The Red Dragons, Tigers and Ambazonia Defence Forces (ADF) – these are just some of the armed groups which have sprung up to fight for independence in English-speaking parts of Cameroon, posing a major security threat to Sunday’s elections, in which President Paul Biya, 85, is seeking to extend his 36-year rule. In the absence […]
JOHANNESBURG (BLOOMBERG) – The city of Johannesburg shut down its website and billing systems after a group hacked into the authority’s system and demanded a ransom of four Bitcoins worth about US$30,000 (S$40,896). The call centre, cashiers and other digital platforms were also taken offline as a precaution following the breach, the city said on […]