AFP Africa

Mauritius’s prime minister said Tuesday that his country had reached a newly renegotiated deal with Britain over control of the strategic Chagos Islands but was awaiting US President Donald Trump’s opinion.Britain and its former colony reached a deal in October to hand back the Indian Ocean isles — which it kept control of after Mauritius …

Mauritius says ‘new deal’ reached with UK on Chagos IslandsTue, 04 Feb 2025 16:57:32 GMT Read More »

Lack of military coordination and tension among countries in Africa’s Lake Chad region are hindering efforts to end a more than decade-long jihadist insurgency, according to local officials and security sources.The region, comprising the four countries that surround Lake Chad — Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria — has been battling insurgency since 2009, after a …

Lack of regional cooperation hampering Lake Chad jihadist fightTue, 04 Feb 2025 15:33:16 GMT Read More »

People cannot go to Mali’s Dogon region to witness its spectacular ancient culture, so the Dogons brought their dancing, wrestling and architecture to the Sahel nation’s capital. The central region has been isolated for a decade because of the insecurity that has stricken the huge west African country.But authorities have organised the annual week-long Ogobagna festival …

Masks and wrestlers bring Dogon people out of Mali’s shadowsTue, 04 Feb 2025 15:02:03 GMT Read More »

The gates at a Johannesburg LGBTQ clinic called OUT have been closed for more than a week and HIV prevention and treatment services suspended for its 6,000 clients.The lights are also off at the University of the Witwatersrand’s HIV project, a leader in the provision of services to sex workers in South Africa, a country …

‘Unreliable partner’: S.Africa’s HIV clinics scramble over US aid freezeTue, 04 Feb 2025 13:47:57 GMT Read More »

DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame will attend a summit on Saturday as a Rwanda-backed armed group advances in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.M23 fighters and Rwandan soldiers have made substantial gains in the eastern DRC, taking the major city of Goma last week, and have vowed to march across the …

DR Congo, Rwanda leaders to join summit on crisis in war-torn eastTue, 04 Feb 2025 04:56:09 GMT Read More »

Fierce fighting in south and west Sudan killed at least 65 people and wounded more than 130 Monday, medics said, as the devastating war between the army and paramilitary forces rages on.In South Kordofan, artillery fire on the state capital Kadugli killed at least 40 people and wounded 70, according to two medical sources.The city, …

At least 65 killed as Sudan fighting escalatesMon, 03 Feb 2025 21:06:54 GMT Read More »

The US government’s giant humanitarian agency closed its headquarters to staff Monday amid moves by Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and President Donald Trump’s controversial aide, to seize control in actions decried by critics as “plain illegal.”Workers at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) were told to stay out of its Washington office …

Democrats blast Musk as US aid agency HQ shuttersMon, 03 Feb 2025 20:58:33 GMT Read More »

Elon Musk, the world’s richest person and President Donald Trump’s controversial close advisor, said Monday the giant USAID humanitarian agency will be “shutting down” as part of his radical — and critics say unconstitutional — drive to shrink the US government.Hours later, Secretary of State Marco Rubio indicated it was not disappearing but would come …

Musk says Trump ‘shutting down’ US aid agencyMon, 03 Feb 2025 18:26:28 GMT Read More »

President Cyril Ramaphosa vowed Monday to continue providing support to the Democratic Republic of Congo in the face of nationwide calls to withdraw troops following the death of 14 South African soldiers. Rwanda-backed M23 fighters have made substantial gains in the eastern DRC, taking the major city of Goma last week and vowing to march across …

S.Africa says ‘will not let up’ support for DR CongoMon, 03 Feb 2025 15:53:49 GMT Read More »

The conflict between Rwanda-backed forces and the DR Congo is often presented as a struggle to control the valuable minerals that power global electronics. But the focus on “conflict minerals” may obscure other drivers of the violence in one of the world’s most volatile regions. DRC and Rwanda together supply around half the world’s coltan, the metallic …

The role of minerals and tech firms in the DR Congo conflictMon, 03 Feb 2025 14:13:43 GMT Read More »