Africa

Rolling red carpet to Africans, US warns of ‘destabilizing’ China, Russia

by Shaun Tandon Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States warned Tuesday that China and Russia were destabilizing Africa with their growing inroads as it rolled out the red carpet to the continent’s leaders and pledged billions of dollars in support. Forty-nine African leaders flew into the Washington cold for the first continent-wide summit with the United States in eight years as President Joe Biden seeks to use personal diplomacy to win […]

Around 100 dead as floods strike DR Congo capital

by Joel LUMBALA Agence France-Presse KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — Around a hundred people died on Tuesday as the worst floods in years battered DR Congo’s capital Kinshasa following an all-night downpour, according to state television. Major roads in the centre of Kinshasa, a city of some 15 million people, were submerged for hours, and a key supply route was cut off. State television said that around 100 people had died in the floods, as […]

Nine dead in fresh Burkina violence: sources

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AFP) – At least nine civilians have been killed in violent attacks in northern Burkina Faso, witnesses told AFP on Wednesday. The poor, landlocked country in the heart of West Africa’s Sahel is struggling with a jihadist insurgency now in its eighth year. Thousands of civilians, police and security volunteers have died and some two million people have fled their homes. One resident near Kongoussi, the capital of Bam province, told AFP on condition […]

Moroccans protest price hikes and ‘repression’

Rabat, Morocco (AFP) – Protesters turned out in force to march in Morocco’s capital Rabat Sunday to denounce the “high cost of living and repression”, amid surging inflation and rising social discontent. “The people want lower prices… The people want to eliminate despotism and corruption,” chanted the crowd, estimated by journalists to be around 3,000 people, the largest such rally in recent months. Police put the turnout at between 1,200 and 1,500 people. “We came to protest […]

Flash flood kills 14 at Johannesburg church ritual

Johannesburg, South Africa (AFP) Flash flooding that followed heavy rains has killed at least 14 people taking part in religious rituals in Johannesburg, with others still missing, emergency services said Sunday. A group of 33 worshippers had joined church rituals on the banks of the Jukskei river when the flooding struck on Saturday, said Robert Mulaudzi, spokesman for the City of Johannesburg Emergency Management Services. An earlier toll of nine dead rose after the discovery […]

Gunmen kidnap worshippers in Nigeria mosque attack

  Kano, Nigeria (AFP) Gunmen abducted 19 Muslim worshippers after attacking a mosque in the restive northwest of Nigeria, police said Sunday. The attackers stormed the mosque in Maigamji village, in Katsina state, during evening prayers Saturday and carried out the kidnappings after shooting and wounding the imam and another worshipper, said local police spokesman Gambo Isah. “Our men mobilised and went after the bandits and succeeded in rescuing six of the worshippers from their […]

M23 rebels say Rwanda-DR Congo ceasefire deal does not affect them

GOMA, DR Congo (AFP) — The M23 rebel group said Thursday that a ceasefire announced a day earlier “doesn’t really concern us,” while calling for “direct dialogue” with Democratic Republic of Congo’s government. “M23 has seen the document on social media… There was nobody in the summit (from M23) so it doesn’t really concern us,” Lawrence Kanyuka, political spokesman for the M23 (March 23) movement, told AFP. “Normally when there is a ceasefire it is […]

Canada sanctions former Haitian leaders, announces aid

DJERBA, Tunisia (AFP) – Canada on Sunday said it would impose sanctions against former Haitian president Michel Martelly and two ex-prime ministers accused of profiting from armed gangs, and announced a new aid package for the country. The men in question “directly benefit from the work of the gangs and are associated with a system of corruption”, Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly told journalists during a conference in Tunisia. The sanctions, which will freeze any assets […]

Rainforest giants Brazil, Indonesia, DR Congo sign deforestation pact

  Nusa Dua, Indonesia | AFP | The world’s biggest rainforest nations Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of Congo on Monday formally launched a climate partnership to work together on conservation. All three nations have vast tropical rainforests threatened by logging and agriculture. “Representatives from Indonesia, Brazil and DRC… announced a tropical forest cooperation and climate action in the Egyptian COP27 (climate summit) side event on November 7, and agreed to sign a Joint Statement […]

Algeria car crash kills 16, mostly migrants

ALGIERS, Algeria (AFP) – Sixteen passengers died and another three were injured, mostly sub-Saharan Africans, on Monday when two pickup trucks collided in southern Algeria, rescue services and local media reported. The accident took place on a highway in the country’s desert south, the civil protection agency said on Facebook. Out of the 16 victims, 14 were from African countries further south and two were Algerians, according to local media, which said the accident took place […]

CO2 pollution from fossil fuels to hit all-time high in 2022

Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt | AFP | by Marlowe HOOD Carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, the main driver of climate change, are on track to rise one percent in 2022 to reach an all-time high, scientists said Friday at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt. Emissions from oil, fuelled by the continuing rebound in aviation, will likely rise more than two percent compared to last year, while emissions from coal — thought by some […]

19 killed after plane plunges into Lake Victoria in Tanzania

Tanzania | AFP | The death toll from Sunday’s plane crash in Tanzania has jumped to 19, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said, after the Precision Air flight with dozens of passengers aboard plunged into Lake Victoria while approaching the northwestern city of Bukoba. “All Tanzanians are with you in mourning the 19 people who lost lives during this accident,” Majaliwa told a crowd after arriving at Bukoba airport, where the flight had been scheduled to […]