Africa

Thousands of women and children flee Burkina Faso massacre

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AFP) — Burkina Faso said Tuesday that more than 7,000 people had fled the country’s volatile north following the bloodiest massacre in a six-year-old jihadist insurgency. “Steps have already been taken to give (displaced people) a minimum level of comfort, lodgings, and food,” Prime Minister Christophe Dabire said, promising on a visit to the area that the attack “will not go unpunished”. Dabire’s advisers told AFP that 7,600 people had fled to […]

‘Exponential’ rise in virus cases in DR Congo capital: WHO

KINSHASA, DR Congo (AFP) — The UN’s health agency on Thursday said it had detected a surge late last month in coronavirus cases in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. “An exponential rise in the spread of SARS-Cov-2 virus has been recorded in Kinshasa,” the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a weekly report, as a DRC health ministry official confirmed “the third wave of Covid-19 is already there — it’s the […]

Pirates seize 4 Koreans, 1 Filipino crew off Benin

ACCRA, Ghana (AFP) — Pirates kidnapped four Koreans and one Filipino crew member from a tuna-fishing vessel close to Benin in the Gulf of Guinea earlier this week, Ghanaian police said. The Gulf of Guinea, a key shipping route extending from Senegal to Angola, accounted for the vast majority of maritime crew abductions last year, with pirates targeting commercial vessels. The Ghana-registered boat was attacked on Tuesday although the Ghana navy recovered the vessel and […]

DR Congo president says, situation ‘under control’ after volcano eruption

by Alexis Huguet GOMA, DR Congo (AFP) — The situation is “under control” following the eruption of a volcano in the Democratic Republic of Congo, President Felix Tshisekedi said on Saturday after his government mistakenly announced another volcano had erupted. A week after Mount Nyiragongo roared back into life, causing devastation and sparking a mass exodus, “the situation is certainly serious but it is under control,” Tshisekedi told a news conference. Around 400,000 residents have […]

South Africa steps up virus curbs against third wave

PRETORIA, South Africa (AFP) — President Cyril Ramaphosa announced Sunday that South Africa would re-impose stricter measures against Covid-19 fearing the whole country will soon face a third wave of the pandemic. Four of the nation’s nine provinces, including Gauteng which boasts Johannesburg and Pretoria and has the biggest population, are already battling a third wave of infections, Ramaphosa said. “It may only be a matter of time before the country as a whole will […]

Africa needs 20 million second AstraZeneca jabs in six weeks: WHO

BRAZZAVILLE, Congo (AFP) — Africa needs at least 20 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine within six weeks if those who have had their first shot are to get the second in time, the WHO said Thursday. “Africa needs vaccines now,” said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization’s Regional Director for Africa. “Any pause in our vaccination campaigns will lead to lost lives and lost hope.” The WHO statement underlined the importance of respecting […]

‘Limnic eruption’: DR Congo’s volcano nightmare

GOMA, DR Congo (AFP) — Orders on Thursday to evacuate Goma, a city lying in the shadow of DR Congo’s Mount Nyiragongo volcano, have shed light on a rare but potentially catastrophic risk — a “limnic eruption,” when volcanic activity combined with a deep lake can spew out lethal, suffocating gas. The phenomenon first came to the world’s attention in August 1984, when 37 people mysteriously died at Lake Monoun in western Cameroon. Scientists found […]

Volcano warning sparks evacuation order, exodus in DR Congo

GOMA, DR Congo (AFP) — DR Congo authorities ordered the evacuation of part of the city of Goma on Thursday over the risk of further eruptions from volcano Nyiragongo, causing an immediate exodus of tens of thousands of people, an AFP correspondent said. “Right now we can’t rule out an eruption on land or under the lake (Kivu), which could happen very soon and without warning,” the local military governor General Constant Ndima told media. […]

DR Congo volcano aftershocks rattle residents, damage buildings

GOMA, DR Congo (AFP) — Aftershocks from the Mount Nyiragongo volcano in eastern DR Congo rattled the nearby city of Goma on Wednesday, four days after its eruption, badly damaging several buildings and prompting hundreds of residents to flee and the UN to relocate some of its staff. The tremors were felt throughout the night. Two powerful shocks from Africa’s most active volcano caused terrified people to run out of their homes. The seismic monitoring […]

Cholera kills 20 in northern Nigeria

KANO, Nigeria (AFP) — A cholera outbreak in northern Nigeria has killed at least 20 people in the past two weeks with more than 300 hospitalized from the disease, a health official said Tuesday. Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, suffers from a high rate of water-borne diseases as a result of dilapidated infrastructure and under-investment. The latest outbreak in Bauchi state was reported in nine districts, with the state capital Bauchi worst hit, Mohammed Maigoro, […]

Mali in turmoil after army detains leaders

by Serge Daniel and Kassim Traore BAMAKO, Mali (AFP) — Mali was in turmoil Tuesday after disgruntled army officers detained the president and the prime minister, sparking fears of a coup less than a year after the last military takeover in the impoverished west African nation. The newest crisis to hit the vast country where jihadists control large swathes of territory sparked widespread international condemnation. Army officers upset with a government reshuffle detained President Bah […]

Up to 2,500 homes destroyed in DR Congo volcano eruption

GOMA, DR Congo (AFP) — As many as 2,500 homes were destroyed after the Nyiragongo volcano erupted in eastern DR Congo last weekend, according to an estimate by humanitarian groups Tuesday. Molten lava destroyed between 900 and 2,500 dwellings, said Raphael Tenaud, deputy head of an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation, adding that this meant at least 5,000 people were now homeless. © Agence France-Presse