Category Archives: Africa

Tunisia court jails potential presidential candidates and bars them from upcoming election

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Critics say the move is aimed at targeting serious challengers to the current Tunisan president, Kais Saied.

A Tunisian court has sentenced a number of potential presidential election candidates to prison and banned them from running for office, according to local media, politicians, and a lawyer, in a move critics say is aimed at excluding serious competitors to President Kais Saied in October’s vote.

A court decision was issued on Monday against prominent politician Abdel Latif Mekki, activist Nizar Chaari, Judge Mourad Massoudi and another candidate, Adel Dou, according to lawyer Mokthar Jmai who spoke to Reuters. All four were sentenced to eight months in prison and banned from running for office on a charge of vote buying.

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Fifth of medicines in Africa may be sub-par or fake, research finds

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Analysis suggests extent of problem UN estimates is causing 500,000 deaths a year in sub-Saharan region

A fifth of medicines in Africa could be substandard or fake, according to a major research project, raising the alarm over a problem that could be contributing to the deaths of countless patients.

Researchers from Bahir Dar University in Ethiopia analysed 27 studies in the review and found, of the 7,508 medicine samples included, 1,639 failed at least one quality test and were confirmed to be substandard or falsified.

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Bullets and teargas reportedly fired at journalists covering protests in Nigeria

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At least 50 press arrested on Saturday in Abuja and almost 700 demonstrators detained since unrest began

Nigerian security forces on Saturday fired bullets and teargas at protesters and journalists during demonstrations against the country’s economic crisis in the capital city, Abuja, according to journalists at the scene and videos reviewed by the Associated Press news agency.

It was not immediately confirmed whether the projectiles fired at journalists were rubber or live rounds. But the AP witnessed the aftermath of the attack, including bullet holes in a car belonging to one of the journalists as well as live bullets at the scene of the protests.

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Why are Nigerians protesting? Young people were roused by events in Kenya

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A demonstration against the president about the cost of living crisis has spread, after youth groups saw protests across the continent force a change in the law

A protest organised by unions and youth groups about the cost of living crisis on Nigeria’s Democracy Day in June passed off quietly, drawing just a few hundred people in the country’s biggest city, Lagos, and the capital, Abuja.

Then things started to kick off in Kenya. Young Kenyans angry at the prospect of increased levies on essential foodstuffs occupied parliament in Nairobi amid violence that claimed more than 20 lives. Kenya’s president, William Ruto, was forced to withdraw his finance bill and dissolved his cabinet.

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At least 37 killed in terrorist attack on popular Mogadishu beach

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More than 200 wounded after suicide bomber and gunmen target busy beachfront in Somali capital

At least 37 people have been killed and more than 200 injured in a suicide bombing and gun attack at the popular Lido beach in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, police said. The attack happened on Friday night, when residents of the city typically gather at cafes near the seaside.

Agence France-Presse reported that police and witnesses said the bomber detonated his device late on Friday on the beach before gunmen stormed the area. State media said government forces “neutralised” the attackers after a gunfight.

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Egyptian mummy with screaming expression ‘may have died in agony’, say researchers

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Archaeologists say wide open mouth of woman who died about 3,500 years ago may be caused by rare, immediate form of rigor mortis

She looks uncannily like The Scream painting by Edvard Munch, but just why an ancient Egyptian mummy has such a startling expression has long puzzled researchers. Now they say they may have the answer – suggesting the woman died crying out in agony.

The woman is thought to have been buried about 3,500 years ago and was discovered in 1935 in a wooden coffin beneath the tomb of Senmut – an important architect during the reign of the female pharaoh Hatshepsut.

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Miss South Africa contestant faces backlash over Nigerian father

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Chidimma Adetshina subjected to online abuse and questions about whether she is South African amid anti-African immigrant sentiment

A South African beauty pageant contestant with a Nigerian father has been subjected to relentless online abuse and interrogations of her right to compete for the Miss South Africa title, as a persistent strain of xenophobia against immigrants from other African countries has resurfaced.

Since Chidimma Adetshina, a 23-year-old law student who was born in Soweto and lives in Cape Town, was announced on 1 July as one of the contestants in the running to represent South Africa at the Miss Universe pageant, there has been constant questioning of whether she is a South African citizen.

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Children ‘at death’s door’ as famine declared in Sudanese refugee camp

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UN-backed early warning network confirms people in the Darfur city of El Fasher are starving to death

Famine has been declared in a Sudanese displacement camp in the besieged city of El Fasher.

About 600,000 people are estimated to be living in camps just outside the capital of North Darfur.

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Up to seven reportedly dead in Nigeria after clashes between police and citizens

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Anti-government protests held in Abuja, Minna, Katsina and Lagos despite official efforts to stifle it

As many as seven people have died, according to reports, after clashes between Nigerian security personnel and citizens on the first day of a weeklong nationwide protest against “bad governance” and a cost living crisis.

The newspaper Daily Trust reported that six people were killed on Thursday during clashes with police during an attempt to dislodge a roadblock protesters had installed in Minna, the capital of Niger state. One person was killed and another critically wounded by stray bullets fired by police in Kano, where another set of protesters breached the seat of government in the city.

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Guinea court finds former dictator guilty in stadium massacre trial

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Moussa Dadis Camara convicted of crimes against humanity after ordering 2009 crackdown on unarmed protesters

A court in Guinea has found the former dictator Moussa Dadis Camara and seven other military commanders guilty of crimes against humanity in a long-awaited verdict relating to a notorious massacre and mass rape that took place in 2009.

In a ruling in the capital, Conakry, the initial charges, including murder, rape and kidnapping, were recategorised as crimes against humanity. Afterward, Camara and his former police chief Moussa Tiegboro Camara were given 20-year prison sentences for ordering a crackdown on thousands of unarmed protesters, who were aggrieved that he had decided to stand in the presidential election the following year.

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Nigerian singer, actor and activist Onyeka Onwenu dies aged 72

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Nicknamed the ‘Elegant Stallion’, the revered star died after performing at a private party in Lagos

Onyeka Onwenu, the singer, actor, broadcaster and activist whose love ballads and songs about women’s rights were a soothing balm during Nigeria’s rocky 1980s and earned her the nickname “Elegant Stallion”, has died at 72.

She had just finished a performance at a private party on Tuesday night in Lagos when the singer became ill. Hours later, she died at a nearby hospital, having suffered a heart attack, according to local reports.

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Somalia arrests another journalist as press clampdown intensifies

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Detention of reporters for covering sensitive news is having a ‘chilling’ effect on free media in Somalia, say rights groups

The arrest of a journalist for reporting on drug use in the Somali military is the latest incident in an apparent clampdown on critical reporting in the country, which is having a “chilling” effect on Somalia’s media, rights campaigners said.

AliNur Salaad was detained last week and accused of “immorality, false reporting and insulting the armed forces”, after publishing a now-deleted video suggesting that soldiers were vulnerable to attacks by al-Shabaab militants because of widespread use of the traditional narcotic khat.

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Ukraine military intelligence claims role in deadly Wagner ambush in Mali

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Malian rebels ‘received necessary information’ to kill fighters from Russian military group last week, GUR says

Ukraine’s military intelligence agency has claimed it was involved in an ambush that killed fighters from Russia’s Wagner group in the west African nation of Mali, thousands of miles away from the frontline in Ukraine.

A Telegram channel linked to the Wagner leadership on Monday admitted the group had suffered heavy losses during fighting in Mali last week.

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Demonstrators in Nigeria gather days early for anti-government protests

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Crowds converge on Suleja over economic hardship and record inflation amid warnings against mass action

Hundreds of protesters have gathered in central Nigeria days before planned national demonstrations over economic hardship and record inflation.

The protesters, many of them young people, converged in the town of Suleja, 3o miles outside the federal capital, Abuja, with placards criticising the government’s policies. Week-long nationwide protests had been due to begin on Wednesday.

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South Africa’s ANC expels ex-president Zuma for leading rival party in election

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Jacob Zuma backed MK party, which African National Congress said cost it its parliamentary majority

South Africa’s former president Jacob Zuma has been expelled by the African National Congress after he backed a rival political party that helped cost the ANC its parliamentary majority in recent national elections.

“Former president Jacob Zuma has actively impugned the integrity of the ANC and campaigned to dislodge the ANC from power, while claiming that he had not severed his membership,” the party said in a statement on Monday.

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Girls as young as nine gang-raped by paramilitaries in Sudan – report

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Human Rights Watch accuses RSF militia of ‘countless’ cases of rape and torture in Khartoum in 15-month civil war

Gunmen from a notorious militia roamed Sudan’s capital gang-raping “countless” women and girls, some as young as nine, according to an investigation documenting the shocking prevalence of sexual violence in Khartoum during the country’s civil war.

Some of the attacks by members of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) were so brutal that women and girls died “due to the violence associated with the act of rape”, according to the research by Human Rights Watch (HRW).

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‘She is one of our heroines’: reviled, now revered, Winnie Mandela wins over young South Africa

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The legacy of the activist, ANC politician and wife of Nelson Mandela has growing appeal, despite her refusal to apologise for crimes

As votes from South Africa’s elections were being counted last month, a senior African National Congress politician, Nomvula Mokonyane, held court wearing a yellow long-sleeved top with the face of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela emblazoned on the back.

Across the room at the national vote counting centre, far left Economic Freedom Fighters official Poppy Mailola wore a black T-shirt with an image of Winnie plastered across repetitions of her name.

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Green economy could generate 3.3m jobs across Africa by 2030 – report

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Policymakers and funders are being urged to invest in training a workforce to serve the industries of the future

A greener economy could bring millions of jobs to some of the largest countries in Africa, according to a new report.

Research by the development agency FSD Africa and the impact advisory firm Shortlist predicts that 3.3 million jobs could be generated across the continent by 2030.

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Doctor behind trial of HIV prevention drug recounts breakthrough moment

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Prof Linda-Gail Bekker receives ovation at Aids summit after presenting trial results of ‘miracle’ drug lenacapavir

When the doctor behind the trial of a new HIV prevention drug heard the results, she could not contain her emotions. “I literally burst into tears,” said Prof Linda-Gail Bekker.

“I’m 62, I’ve lived through this epidemic … I had family members who died of HIV, as did many, many Africans – many people around the world,” she said.

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Death toll from Ethiopia landslides could reach 500, UN agency says

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Mudslide in Gofa zone on Monday traps people rescuing victims from a slide the previous day

The death toll from landslides that hit south-western Ethiopia on Sunday and Monday has risen to 257 and could reach 500, the UN’s office for humanitarian affairs (OCHA) says.

Heavy rains in the mountainous Gofa zone caused a landslide on Sunday night, followed by a second on Monday morning that trapped people who were rescuing victims of the first.

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