AFP Africa

Rockets pummelled the Sudanese capital on Thursday, witnesses said, as paramilitaries attacked a key air force base north of Khartoum and claimed to have killed and wounded “dozens” of soldiers.Residents reported “heavy artillery shelling” and fighter jets overhead the northwest of the city, while drones belonging to the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces attacked the Wadi …

Rockets hit Khartoum, air force base attackedThu, 27 Jul 2023 14:49:18 GMT Read More »

British professor Jim Skea told AFP on Thursday he will bring “a judicious blend of realism and optimism” to his leadership of the UN’s climate expert panel, including a firm belief that humanity is not powerless to confront global warming. Skea takes charge of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in a crucial decade which …

Humanity ‘has agency over future’: new head of UN climate panelThu, 27 Jul 2023 13:49:32 GMT Read More »

Almost 800 irregular migrants drowned off Tunisia in the first half of this year as they tried to reach Europe by boat, a National Guard spokesman told AFP Thursday.”789 bodies of migrants were recovered from the sea, including 102 Tunisians, the others foreigners and unidentified people,” said Houcem Eddine Jebabli, adding that more than 34,000 …

Almost 800 migrants drowned off Tunisia in six months: National GuardThu, 27 Jul 2023 11:08:23 GMT Read More »

From Tunisia to Morocco, sun-baked North Africa has embarked on a building spree of plants that purify sea and wastewater as climate change intensifies droughts in the water-scarce region.Across the Maghreb region, which takes in parts of the Sahara desert and is plagued by scorching summer heat, countries are banking on new desalination plants and …

Drought-hit N.Africa turns to purified sea and wastewaterThu, 27 Jul 2023 09:32:16 GMT Read More »

Niger’s President Mohamed Bazoum on Thursday defiantly vowed to protect “hard-won” democratic gains after he was detained by elite troops who declared they had taken power in the troubled West African nation.Bazoum was confined in Niamey on Wednesday by members of his presidential guard, who hours later announced that “all institutions” in the country would …

Detained Niger president defiant after coup bidThu, 27 Jul 2023 07:51:12 GMT Read More »

On the road linking Niger’s capital Niamey with the south of the country, illegal fuel warehouses have closed and intrepid black-market touts waving petrol canisters at passing cars have become an endangered species.The reason? Neighbouring Nigeria has scrapped its subsidies for petrol — a move that tripled domestic prices and ended the fat profits that smugglers …

Nigeria’s end to petrol subsidies hits Niger black marketThu, 27 Jul 2023 07:16:29 GMT Read More »

Voters in the flashpoint Central African Republic will cast their ballot Sunday on a controversial plan to change the constitution, opening the door to a third term by President Faustin Archange Touadera.One of the poorest and most troubled countries in the world, the land-locked nation has been gripped by conflict and political turmoil for more …

Troubled C.Africa set to vote on contested constitution changeThu, 27 Jul 2023 07:12:41 GMT Read More »

Soldiers claim to have overthrown Niger’s government following an apparent coup in the West African nation on Wednesday when members of the Presidential Guard detained President Mohamed Bazoum.Members of the elite guard sealed off access to the president’s residence and offices in the capital Niamey, and after talks broke down, “refused to release” him, a …

Niger soldiers claim to have overthrown presidentThu, 27 Jul 2023 05:36:04 GMT Read More »

The Russian president will on Thursday host leaders of African countries for a summit in his native Saint Petersburg, as the continent braces for the consequences of Moscow’s withdrawal from the Ukraine grain export deal.Isolated on the international scene since launching a full-scale military intervention in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin still has support in several African …

Putin hosts African leaders in Russia after grain deal exitThu, 27 Jul 2023 04:35:32 GMT Read More »