AFP Africa

The red of Botswana’s ruling party colours dominated a modest spread of campaign posters in the capital on Tuesday as parties prepared for final rallies on the eve of elections.A few posters for the blue-themed opposition Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) could be seen around the university, a bastion of support for the left-leaning alliance …

Timid hope for change as Botswana heads for electionsTue, 29 Oct 2024 18:53:43 GMT Read More »

Conflict-ridden northern Nigeria has been plunged into darkness for nearly two weeks after jihadists sabotaged infrastructure, authorities say, depriving millions of electricity and paralysing economic activity.Members of a jihadist group vandalised a major transmission line in Niger state’s Shiroro district, crippling the power supply in 19 of the West African country’s 36 states, according to …

Blackout cripples northern Nigeria after jihadist attackTue, 29 Oct 2024 17:11:53 GMT Read More »

Libya and Italy signed several agreements on Tuesday covering sectors including development, investments and infrastructure, aiming to boost cooperation between the two Mediterranean states.The accords were signed by Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah and his Italian counterpart, Georgia Meloni, during the Italian-Libyan Business Forum, being held in the capital Tripoli after a decade’s hiatus.Libya is still …

Libya and Italy sign slew of cooperation dealsTue, 29 Oct 2024 15:56:01 GMT Read More »

Rape is widespread in Sudan’s civil war, a United Nations investigation said Tuesday, accusing paramilitaries especially of committing sexual violence on a “staggering” scale.Children are not spared the abuse, with women and girls being abducted for sexual slavery, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan said in a new report.”There is no safe place …

Sexual violence on ‘staggering’ scale in Sudan civil war: UN probeTue, 29 Oct 2024 12:21:16 GMT Read More »

Aregawi Mezgbe limped and grimaced as he finished his exercises at a rehabilitation centre in Mekele, the capital of Ethiopia’s war-ravaged Tigray region. The former mechanic fought with Tigrayan rebel forces in the devastating two-year war that ended in November 2022, motivated by reports of “abuses and killings” by federal forces.He was hit by a bomb …

A rare rehab centre fixes victims of Ethiopia’s warTue, 29 Oct 2024 10:18:19 GMT Read More »

Sporting a scarf emblazoned with an image of Kamala Harris, shop owner Jimmie Thorne watched US election coverage on TV from his printing shop in Ghana’s capital Accra.As US election day draws near, the 70-year-old is among a unique set of African American voters closely following the presidential race from the other side of the …

Ghana’s African American diaspora split as US election loomsTue, 29 Oct 2024 10:02:06 GMT Read More »

Rawa curls up on a chair, pulls her knees tight to her chest and hides her face with a large white veil as if to shield herself from the outside world.”There were seven men who raped me,” she whispers, haltingly recounting a brutal assault shortly after the start of the two-year war in Ethiopia’s northernmost …

‘No one heard our cries’: Tigray war rape survivors recount their ordealsTue, 29 Oct 2024 03:02:07 GMT Read More »

The two-year war in Ethiopia’s Tigray region left hundreds of thousands of people dead, more than one million still displaced and cost more than $20 billion in damage, until a peace deal in November 2022 ended the bloodshed.The war erupted in November 2020 when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent the army to overthrow the leaders …

The situation in Ethiopia’s Tigray two years after warTue, 29 Oct 2024 02:57:11 GMT Read More »

France and Morocco reached agreements on Monday totalling “up to ten billion euros”, sources with direct knowledge to the matter told AFP, during French President Emmanuel Macron’s three-day visit to Morocco aiming to mend strained relations.Several deals were signed in the presence of Macron and King Mohammed VI, with more expected on Tuesday, including on …

France, Morocco sign €10 bn in deals during Macron’s reset visitMon, 28 Oct 2024 22:22:18 GMT Read More »

An attack by jihadist group Boko Haram killed around 40 Chadian troops overnight near the Nigerian border, prompting an army operation to hunt down the militants, the government and local sources said on Monday.Members of Boko Haram targeted a garrison housing more than 200 Chadian soldiers late Sunday in the Lake Chad region, an area …

Chad hunts attackers after 40 killed in Boko Haram raidMon, 28 Oct 2024 18:24:39 GMT Read More »