Africa

Nigeria postpones local state election after court ruling

by Emmanuel ANULE Agence France-Presse ABUJA, Nigeria (AFP) — Nigeria’s electoral agency said on Wednesday it had postponed a weekend governorship election by one week following a court decision over machines used in voting tallies. The so-called BVAS machines are at the center of a legal dispute over last month’s contested presidential election which results show Nigeria’s ruling APC party candidate won, but the opposition claims was marred by massive tampering. With President Muhammadu Buhari […]

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Kenyan innovators turn e-waste to bio-robotic prosthetic

by Mary KULUNDU Agence France Presse Nairobi, Kenya (AFP) — Twoportraits of Albert Einstein hang on the walls of a makeshift laboratory on Nairobi’s outskirts, inspiring a pair of self-taught Kenyan innovators who have built a bio-robotic prosthetic arm out of electronic scrap. Cousins Moses Kiuna, 29, and David Gathu, 30, created their first prosthetic arm in 2012, after their neighbour lost a limb in an industrial accident. But their latest invention is a significant […]

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M23 rebels clash with DR Congo troops despite ceasefire

by Alexis HUGUET Agence France-Presse GOMA, DR Congo (AFP) — M23 rebels clashed with soldiers on two fronts in eastern DR Congo on Tuesday, officials said, despite a regional ceasefire deal due to take effect the same day. After several days of relative calm, fighting erupted on Monday in the flashpoint province of North Kivu, leaving several civilians dead and injured, hospital sources and aid workers said. The fighting continued on Tuesday, with the rebels […]

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Two dead, 16 hurt in Egypt train accident: health ministry

QALYUB, Egypt (AFP) — Two people were killed and several others injured Tuesday in a train accident north of Cairo, Egypt’s health ministry said after the country’s latest rail tragedy. A ministry statement said there were “two dead in the train accident at Qalyub, while the injured are in a stable condition.” An earlier ministry toll that reported one dead also listed 16 injured, including six already treated and released. The incident occurred in Qalyub, […]

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Macron says era of French interference in Africa is ‘over’

by Valerie LEROUX and Thomas GROPALLO Agence France-Presse LIBREVILLE, Gabon (AFP) — President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said the era of French interference in Africa was “well over” as he began a four-nation tour of the continent to renew frayed ties. Anti-French sentiment runs high in some former African colonies as the continent becomes a renewed diplomatic battleground, with Russian and Chinese influence growing in the region. Macron said France harbored no desire to return […]

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Nigeria presidential election drama heads to the courts

by Louise Dewast with Alexandre Martins Lopes in Lagos Agence France-Presse ABUJA, Nigeria (AFP) — The two major defeated candidates in Nigeria’s disputed election on Thursday challenged the victory of ruling APC party’s Bola Tinubu, with one rival appealing to courts and the other calling the results “a rape of democracy”. Tinubu, a former Lagos governor of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), was declared winner of Saturday’s election with 8.8 million votes and the […]

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S.Africa’s Pistorius up for parole in girlfriend’s murder

South African Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius, who killed his girlfriend 10 years ago, will know in about a month whether he will be released on parole, his lawyer said Thursday. “We have been advised by the parole board that the hearing will take place on the 31st of March, 2023,” his lawyer Julian Knight told AFP. “It’s an internal process.” Pistorius, who is now 36, shot dead Reeva Steenkamp in the early hours of Valentine’s […]

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‘The conflict goes on’: South Sudan’s never-ending war

by Nick Perry Agence France-Presse NAIROBI, Kenya (AFP) — “South Sudan remains significantly peaceful”, declared the opening line of a government-issued fact sheet for visitors and press as they awaited the historic arrival of Pope Francis in the country this month. But on his first day in Juba, as the pontiff waved to the faithful, mass graves were being dug just 100 kilometers (62 miles) away for 27 civilians killed in a hail of automatic […]

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Macron plans ‘noticeable reduction’ of French troops in Africa

by Valerie LEROUX Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — President Emmanuel Macron on Monday announced a “noticeable reduction” of French troop presence in Africa, where anti-French sentiment is running high in some former colonies. He was speaking in Paris ahead of a four-nation tour of central African countries from Wednesday, as France seeks to counter growing Chinese and Russian influence in the region. Macron is to visit Gabon for an environmental summit, followed by Angola, […]

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Nigeria ruling party candidate takes early election lead

by Patrick Markey with Louise Dewast in Port Harcourt Agence France-Presse LAGOS, Nigeria (AFP) — Nigeria’s ruling party candidate Bola Tinubu took an early lead in the race for the presidency, according to initial tallies on Monday, after a tight election marked by long delays and opposition accusations of fraud. Former Lagos governor Tinubu faced an old rival, the main opposition PDP’s Atiku Abubakar, in Saturday’s vote, but surprise third candidate, Labor Party’s Peter Obi, […]

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Burkina Faso to recruit 5,000 soldiers to battle jihadists

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AFP) — Burkina Faso announced Thursday a recruitment drive for 5,000 soldiers to serve in the army for at least five years to aid the country in its fight against jihadists. The country, one of the world’s poorest, has been battling a deadly insurgency since 2015. “An exceptional recruitment of 5,000 non-commissioned soldiers for the national armed forces, to serve for at least five years, in their military region of recruitment, will […]

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Cyclone Freddy death toll rises to 7 in Madagascar

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar (AFP) — The death toll from Cyclone Freddy in Madagascar climbed to seven on Thursday as the winds that have battered the Indian Ocean for days started to ease before hitting Mozambique. Madagascar’s government revised the death toll for the island from five to seven on Thursday and said average wind speeds were now reaching 65 kilometers (40 miles) per hour, with gusts of up to 90 kph. Among the victims were four […]

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