Russian President Vladimir Putin decided against attending an upcoming BRICS summit in Johannesburg in person because he did not want to “jeopardise” the talks, a top South African diplomat said Thursday.Putin’s potential visit had posed a diplomatic and legal dilemma for South Africa ahead of the August 22-24 meeting.He is the target of an International …

Putin opted out not to ‘jeopardise’ BRICS summit: S.AfricaThu, 20 Jul 2023 12:05:29 GMT Read More »

Egyptian researcher Patrick Zaki on Thursday walked out of prison, his family said, a day after President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi granted him a pardon in the wake of an international outcry.Zaki’s three-year prison sentence on Tuesday for “spreading false news” had prompted some participants to walk out of a government dialogue aimed at giving the …

Egyptian researcher leaves prison after pardon: familyThu, 20 Jul 2023 11:55:27 GMT Read More »

Vitaliy Bylenko looked ruefully at the mountains of grain in his barn, contemplating the growing obstacles to shifting the stockpiles after Russia this week exited a deal allowing Black Sea exports.Ukraine, European countries and the United States have lamented Moscow’s decision to scrap the landmark accord brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July.But …

‘No way out’: Ukraine farmers lament collapse of grain dealThu, 20 Jul 2023 11:52:15 GMT Read More »

Russian missiles and drones hit the Ukrainian port of Odesa for a third “hellish” night in a row as Crimean authorities said a teenager had been killed in Kyiv’s latest attack on the peninsula.Russian forces also targeted Mykolaiv, another Black Sea port through which Ukrainian grain is exported, after Moscow’s exit from a key deal …

Russia pummels Ukraine ports in third night of missile attacksThu, 20 Jul 2023 11:37:40 GMT Read More »

A body was found in central Johannesburg early Thursday after an unexplained blast ripped through a busy street at rush hour the previous evening, the emergency services said.The explosion blew a hole in the road  and gouged out cracks, skittling pedestrians and cars.”(In the) early hours of this morning, we managed to recover a body …

One dead, 48 injured in unexplained Johannesburg blastThu, 20 Jul 2023 11:30:53 GMT Read More »

Cheikh Thiam passes the ball to one of his friends, a group of students and fellow football fans, and darts across an artificial pitch in Senegal’s capital Dakar.They have paid the equivalent of $60 to be there, about a third of the national monthly income, but it is an upgrade from the crowded beaches they …

Young Senegalese football lovers flock to artificial turfThu, 20 Jul 2023 10:56:41 GMT Read More »

A body was found in central Johannesburg early Thursday after an unexplained blast ripped through a main road at rush hour the previous evening, the emergency services said.”(In the) early hours of this morning, we managed to recover a body of a male person on site where the explosion occurred,” Emergency Management Services spokesman Robert …

One dead, 41 injured in unexplained Johannesburg blastThu, 20 Jul 2023 09:56:49 GMT Read More »

Air strikes, street battles and artillery fire shook Sudan’s capital Khartoum and the major southern city of El-Obeid on Thursday, witnesses told AFP.”Artillery fire targeted paramilitary bases of the Rapid Support Forces,” said a resident of El-Obeid, 350 kilometres (220 miles) southwest of Khartoum.Fighting between the RSF and the regular army, led by feuding generals, …

Fighting in Sudan’s capital, south after generals briefly surfaceThu, 20 Jul 2023 08:34:59 GMT Read More »

Russian strikes hit the Ukrainian port of Odesa for a third consecutive night since Moscow pulled out of a grain export deal, officials said Thursday, as Crimean authorities said a teenager had died in Kyiv’s latest attack on the peninsula.At least 20 people were wounded following strikes on Odesa and the southern port city of …

Russia hits Ukraine’s Odesa for third night after grain deal exitThu, 20 Jul 2023 06:01:56 GMT Read More »

About 50 Zimbabwean opposition activists clad in yellow T-shirts were knocking on doors and handing out election flyers in Harare when a dozen riot police arrived and told them to disperse.For the campaigners, the intervention was one more sign of a strategy to wreck their chances of cracking the 43-year grip on power by Zimbabwe’s …

Opposition on back foot as Zimbabwe gears for tense voteThu, 20 Jul 2023 05:48:46 GMT Read More »