AFRICA

Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP |  Senegalese superstar Youssou N’Dour and Grammy-winner Angelique Kidjo were among a galaxy of African talent brought together for a virtual concert to raise awareness of the coronavirus pandemic. More than 100 artists and celebrities from across the continent and the diaspora took part in the …

Cairo, Egypt | AFP |  State surveillance is on the rise globally as governments such as Egypt’s take advantage of the coronavirus pandemic, warns exiled historian and intellectual Khaled Fahmy. Amid the COVID-19 crisis, states have used phone apps and other high-tech measures to monitor the spread of the disease, and …

Boma, South Sudan | AFP |  The light plane banked sharply to circle back over the plains. The pilot had spotted something below: antelope, first one, then many, the stragglers of a million-strong migration across this vast wilderness. But there are other wonders out here on the savanna. A trio of …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP | Vital Kamerhe, a major ally to DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi, proclaimed his innocence on Monday as a historic trial for alleged corruption resumed. Kamerhe, 61, a veteran political figure who is also Tshisekedi’s chief of staff, is accused with others of having embezzled more …

Bujumbura, Burundi | AFP | Burundi’s ruling party presidential candidate Evariste Ndayishimiye on Monday was declared the victor of the bitterly disputed election, with 68.72 percent of the vote. The election commission, which released the official results live on Burundian media, said that his main opposition rival Agathon Rwasa of the National Freedom Council (CNL), …

Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | The US Department of the Treasury has called on the African Development Bank (AfDB) to carry out an independent probe into alleged ethics breaches by its president, Akinwumi Adesina. In a letter obtained by AFP on Monday, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin expressed “deep reservations” about the outcome of …

Bujumbura, Burundi | AFP | Burundi’s election commission is expected Monday to declare Evariste Ndayishimiye the country’s next president, with all signs showing the ruling party’s candidate on track for victory following last week’s poll. The National Independent Electoral Commission will unveil the outcome of the presidential and legislative races at …

Beni, DR Congo | AFP |  Nine civilians were killed on Sunday in the eastern DR Congo region of Beni in another attack blamed on the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) militia, according to local sources. The attackers fled after a gunfight with army troops, according to Anthony Mualushayi, a regional …

Goma, DR Congo | AFP | Coronavirus has swiftly gained status as the world’s No. 1 threat but in eastern DR Congo, one of Africa’s most volatile regions, militia killings and ethnic violence are an older and — for now — far greater source of dread. Some 2,000 kilometres (1,200 …

Kinshasa, DR Congo | AFP |  Government officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo have denied any manipulation of its figures for coronavirus cases and deaths. The controversy came as health officials announced DR Congo’s latest COVID-19 figures which stand at 63 deaths from 2,025 cases, most of them in …