Generations of schoolchildren have grown up being taught that Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti was the first woman to drive a car in Nigeria.But the director of a new film about the pioneering women’s rights activist told AFP that the anecdote offered a very limited view of Ransome-Kuti’s achievements. “She is so much more,” said Bolanle Austen-Peters, whose acclaimed …

Nigerian women’s rights pioneer celebrated in new biopicThu, 16 May 2024 15:09:09 GMT Read More »

Hundreds of lawyers, activists and others demonstrated on Thursday in the Tunisian capital over the arrest of two lawyers in police raids on the national bar association, AFP journalists said.Protesters gathered near the main courthouse in Tunis as police barred journalists from entering the building at the behest of the prosecutor, reporters were told.Inside, black-robed lawyers …

Tunisia lawyers protest after colleagues arrestedThu, 16 May 2024 12:43:21 GMT Read More »

Eight men have submitted their candidacies for Mauritania’s June 29 presidential election, including incumbent Mohamed Ould Ghazouani and his jailed predecessor Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, who was previously ruled out of the race, according to an AFP count.Prospective contenders had until midnight on Wednesday (0000 GMT Thursday) to register their candidacies.Aziz led the pivotal country …

Mauritania ex-leader among eight to file candidacy for presidentThu, 16 May 2024 12:05:02 GMT Read More »

A US delegation is discussing the withdrawal of its troops from military-led Niger as Washington prepares to abandon its strategic position in the Sahel where Russia and Iran are gaining ground.The demand for US troops to exit comes after French troops were also forced to withdraw last year by Niger’s new ruling generals following a …

US forces lose strategic African position in NigerThu, 16 May 2024 09:32:59 GMT Read More »

Mourners gathered Wednesday for the funerals of victims of an attack on a camp for internally displaced people in eastern DR Congo which the government has called a “war crime”.The funerals were held in Goma, the main city in North Kivu province, which has been plagued by fighting between M23 (March 23 Movement) rebels and …

Funerals held for victims of attack on DR Congo campThu, 16 May 2024 07:49:18 GMT Read More »

Episode 23 of a great African club rivalry unfolds in Tunisia on Saturday when Esperance host Egyptian visitors Al Ahly in the CAF Champions League final first leg.Ahly have won 10 and drawn eight of their 22 meetings in the premier continental competition since first clashing 34 years ago, and are appearing in a record …

Esperance, Ahly resume great African club rivalry in finalThu, 16 May 2024 06:14:31 GMT Read More »

A Swiss federal court on Wednesday sentenced Gambian ex-interior minister Ousman Sonko to 20 years in prison for crimes against humanity committed under the regime of former dictator Yahya Jammeh.Sonko, 55, is the highest-ranking official convicted in Europe under universal jurisdiction for the most serious crimes.He was found guilty of “multiple counts of intentional homicide, …

Swiss court jails Gambian ex-minister for crimes against humanityWed, 15 May 2024 19:43:00 GMT Read More »

Walking between the corrugated iron shacks of the informal settlement west of Johannesburg she calls home, Lutho Makheyi points out trenches filled by dirty rainwater holing the unpaved streets.These are the scars left by illegal gold mining, a business she blames for the high levels of violent crime that haunt South Africa ahead of the …

S. African communities terrorised by gold mining gangsWed, 15 May 2024 16:34:53 GMT Read More »

Innocent Kasereka sits in a rundown hospital in the war-torn east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), his neck bandaged where he was brutally slashed with a knife.The 30-year-old recounts how he became caught in the middle of the conflict raging between rebels of the M23 (March 23 Movement) and Congolese armed forces (FARDC) …

‘Living in fear’ in relentless battle for east DR CongoWed, 15 May 2024 06:39:08 GMT Read More »

“We call it green gold,” says Ramadan Youssouf, a khat trader in the Ethiopian town of Aweday, one of the largest markets in the world for the mildly narcotic shrub.”We use it in the morning to wake up, if you chew (it) you can never get sick,” the 30-year-old tells AFP, his dilated pupils reflecting …

A gloomy season for Ethiopia’s ‘green gold’ at the khat marketTue, 14 May 2024 14:16:45 GMT Read More »