AFP Africa

Gunfire erupted Wednesday evening inside the presidency in Chad’s capital N’Djamena, with tanks and a heavy security presence on the streets, according to AFP reporters on the scene and security sources.Several hours later, Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah appeared in a video on Facebook, surrounded by soldiers, saying that “the situation is completely under control… the …

Gunfire erupts inside presidency in Chad capitalWed, 08 Jan 2025 21:56:51 GMT Read More »

Kenya’s high court on Wednesday ordered the country’s top policeman to appear for questioning over a fresh wave of abductions that have caused widespread outrage.Dozens of people have been kidnapped and held in communicado since major anti-government protests last year, which sparked a bruising political crisis for President William Ruto.A fresh spate of disappearances over …

Kenya police chief summoned to court over kidnappingsWed, 08 Jan 2025 15:08:08 GMT Read More »

It is still not clear what exactly fell onto a Kenyan village last month, but such events are likely to become increasingly common given the amount of space debris drifting above the planet.- What we knowA metallic ring of roughly 2.5 metres (8 feet) in diameter and weighing some 500 kilogrammes (1,100 pounds), crashed into …

Debris falling from the sky: more often, more riskWed, 08 Jan 2025 14:03:21 GMT Read More »

The United States determined on Tuesday that Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had “committed genocide” and imposed sanctions on the paramilitary group’s leader.Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the determination was based on information about the RSF’s “systematic” murder of men and boys and the targeted rape of women and girls from certain ethnic groups.”The …

US says Sudan’s RSF committed ‘genocide’ in DarfurTue, 07 Jan 2025 21:42:13 GMT Read More »

Sudanese paramilitary commander Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, who has been sanctioned by the United States for genocide, went from feared Darfur militia commander to de facto vice-president before unleashing a devastating war for power.Daglo’s Rapid Support Forces have been battling the regular army of Abdel Fattah al-Burhan since April 2023 in a war that has killed …

Daglo, feared Darfuri general accused by US of genocideTue, 07 Jan 2025 19:52:13 GMT Read More »

Sao Tome and Principe’s president has dismissed the government over an “inability” to resolve problems facing the tiny West African state and “frequent” absences by the prime minister.The decision by President Carlos Vila Nova was announced in a decree dated Monday and published on the presidency’s Facebook page.It highlighted a “notable inability” by Prime Minister …

Sao Tome and Principe president dismisses government, blaming ‘inability’Tue, 07 Jan 2025 18:58:56 GMT Read More »

A magistrate kidnapped in Cameroon’s English-speaking north hit by nearly a decade of separatist violence has been released, a rights group said Tuesday.Nchang Augustin Amongwa was taken by unknown armed men from his home in the city of Bamenda on December 29, Cameroon-based charity Conscience Africaine said.The NGO’s head Amadu Tarnteh, who announced the release …

Cameroon magistrate kidnapped in separatist north freedTue, 07 Jan 2025 17:12:23 GMT Read More »

Algeria accused France on Tuesday of “unacceptable and blatant interference” after President Emmanuel Macron said Algiers was “dishonouring itself” by keeping French-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal behind bars on national security charges.Sansal, a literary figure who has been critical of the Algerian authorities, was arrested at Algiers airport in November and has been kept in custody despite …

Algeria slams French ‘interference’ over jailing of writerTue, 07 Jan 2025 16:41:04 GMT Read More »

President Emmanuel Macron Tuesday faced accusations from France’s remaining allies in West Africa of showing contempt towards Africans and from the left at home of neo-colonialism after lamenting that African countries “forgot to say thank you” for France’s decade-long military deployment to fight an Islamist insurgency.France has been on the back foot in its former …

Macron irks allies, left with Africa ‘forgot to say thank you’ jibeTue, 07 Jan 2025 16:40:49 GMT Read More »

Ghana on Tuesday swore in president-elect John Mahama in the capital Accra before some 20 regional leaders as he promises to lift the West African gold and cocoa producer out of the doldrums.Mahama won 56 percent of the vote in the nation’s presidential election on December 9, defeating ruling party candidate and Vice President Mahamudu …

Ghana’s John Mahama sworn in after presidential comebackTue, 07 Jan 2025 13:52:14 GMT Read More »