AFRICA

Cotonou, Benin | AFP |  The people watched in horror as the bulldozers moved in. Soon their meagre dwellings were reduced to rubble, becoming homes only to stray dogs that nosed through their belongings. The demolition of Xwlacodji, a district in Benin’s economic capital Cotonou, was carried out in the name …

Tunis, Tunisia | AFP |  Despite priding itself on being the sole country to emerge from the Arab Spring uprisings as a functioning democracy, Tunisia faces challenges on its new political path. The cradle of the autocrat-ousting movements that swept the region nine years ago, the North African country has been …

Mongoumba, Central African Republic | AFP | Under the tarpaulin shading the back of the lorry, the heat is still stifling on a rough road for some 30 refugees travelling home to the strife-weary Central African Republic. Potholes rattle spines and send up fine grit that sticks to the sweaty bodies …

Harare, Zimbabwe | AFP | The body of Zimbabwe’s ex-president, Robert Mugabe, was flown out of Singapore Wednesday, heading home for burial in a country divided over the legacy of a former liberation hero whose 37-year rule was marked by repression and economic ruin. Mugabe, a guerrilla leader who swept to …

Japan, S.A and AFDB unveil priorities in technology at TICAD 7 Science, technology and innovation as well as human resource development are critical in Africa, a continent, which has the biggest potential on earth, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said at the Science and Technology in Society (STS) forum held on …

Yaoundé, Cameroon | AFP |  Cameroon President Paul Biya on Tuesday announced that he intends to hold a major “national dialogue” later this month in a bid to put an end to the conflict between security forces and armed separatists from the anglophone minority in the west. Over the past two …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | Beverlyn Nyamakwenje was fast asleep in her home in the east Johannesburg township of Katlehong when she was woken by gunshots. Instructed by her panicked father, the 19-year old Zimbabwean grabbed a few belongings and fled with him to a police station for safety. “We …

Rabat, Morocco | AFP | The trial of a Moroccan journalist accused of having a late-term abortion and sexual relations outside marriage was postponed on Monday after hundreds of people protested outside a court in the capital Rabat. The case brought against Hajar Raissouni, who writes for the Arabic-language newspaper Akhbar …

Juba, South Sudan | AFP | South Sudan’s exiled rebel leader Riek Machar arrived in Juba on Monday for the first time in a year and held rare talks with President Salva Kiir as the rivals try to salvage a stalled peace agreement. Machar landed in the capital in a Sudanese …

S.Sudan rebel leader in Juba in bid to salvage peace deal Juba, South Sudan | AFP | South Sudan’s exiled rebel leader Riek Machar arrived in Juba on Monday for the first time in a year and held rare talks with President Salva Kiir as the rivals try to salvage …